Breaking Free
by JaspersGirl8
Summary: When Edward's overprotective nature starts to drive Bella away, she turns to his brother and starts to live more. A great friendship blooms, and from there even more. JasperxBella
1. Preface

**A/N**

**Hi, this is my first fan fiction. Just a word of warning, I am from Australia so the spelling might be a bit different to what you are used to.**

**Hope you like it!**

**--**

**Preface**

**Bella POV**

'I'm gonna get you!' I heard him scream. I giggled and ran down the hall. I jumped into the first door I saw and closed it, leaning against it in a vain attempt to keep him out.

"Belle darling, do you really think you're tiny self is enough to keep a big strong vampire out?"

I just laughed, knowing that he would make it through. Slowly the door started to inch open as if I weren't even here.

I ran for the bed but a pair of cold arms snaked around my waist.

"Gotcha!" He whispered in my ear as he threw me on the bed. He straddled my lap and held my hands above my head so there was no way I could get away.

He leaned into kiss me, and just as I felt his lips on mine, the door swung open, revelling the one person I did not want to see right now.

I gasped, "Edward, what are you doing in here?"


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Edward's POV**

**(2 weeks earlier)**

Another hunting trip. I was dreading this one, as I would have to go so far away. My need to stay to Bella meant that the local wild animals were slowly becoming endangered, and I knew I had to start going further.

"Cheer up Eddie!" I growled at my brother Emmet,

"Don't call me that!" He knew how I felt about that name; we had had many a wrestling match over it in the past.

Alice skipped in the room, almost bouncing with excitement and my beautiful Bella followed after, dragging her feet. She looked so… breakable.

I know I have been going over the top with protecting her lately, but with the wedding in a month, I couldn't risk anything happening to her. I needed her too much. Though it did not take Jaspers special skills for me to realise just how much I have been getting on her nerves.

"We should get going" Carlisle announced.

I looked over at Bella, and took her in my arms. I knew this would be the last time I could hold her for a while so I did my best to commit it to memory. I memorised it all, the way her fingers ran through my hair, the way she stood on her tip toes to kiss me, and finally the feeling of her lips upon mine.

I quickly pulled away, knowing it was a bad idea and gave her a kiss on top of the head.

She looked kind of grumpy as I started to leave but Jaspers thoughts interrupted my own,

"_She's his girlfriend, not his little sister. What's with the kiss on the head?"_

He must have got the point from the glare I gave him, as his thoughts quickly changed.

"_Don't worry, she will be just fine with Alice and I for ten days, we can handle it._"

He sensed my apprehension still and rushed to reassure me.

"_I have spent so much time with her by now, I hardly smell her at all. Now leave, Emmett is getting impatient."_

With a final look at my beauty, I went to the Jeep only to be greeted by Emmett and Rose's thoughts at the same time,

"_It's about time he got here, I am so thirsty I could eat a bear. Ha ha"_

"_Good, we can finally leave. I wonder what Emmett is smiling about now."_

I cracked a smile, and climbed into the back with Carlisle and Esme.

"_She'll be fine, Jasper and Alice will take good care of her" _Esme comforted me silently.

I shot her a smile of thanks as we tore down the driveway.

**Bella POV**

As soon as he left, I started to feel depressed, but also a bit relieved. His protective nature has gone completely over the top recently and I would be nice to have some time to think for myself.

I saw Jasper giving me a strange look, and I knew my emotions were confusing. He raised one eyebrow at me and I gave a small, 'it's a long storey' look back.

Much to my relief he didn't push it.

"Shopping time!"

I groaned. I knew this was coming as soon as I heard I was being left with Alice.

Starting to protest, I was surprised as Jasper joined in. Wasn't he always up for whatever Alice wanted? I guess he too had had his fill of being dragged through stores, and carrying heavy bags.

"I don't care, now you two are not in my Porsche in the next 30 seconds then you will regret it.

Next thing I knew I was sitting in the back seat, with Jasper climbing into the front.

"Trust me, she really meant it." He winked at me, and a piece of blonde hair fell in his eyes. I never noticed the colour of his hair before, a sort of honey-blonde mix that suited his pale skin perfectly. Just as I went to brush away the offending strand, the Porsche took off and I was thrown back against the seat.

The trip did not take long enough, and before I knew it we were at Alice's favourite mall. I winced as she dragged me into a designer shop, not even bothering to look at any price tags; I knew it would just make me feel incredibly guilty for the things she bought for me. We left there after she made me try on every single possible item that was either my size or too small.

She put her credit card away as we walked to the next designer store, Jasper and I dragging our feet behind her. Just as she walked in Jasper grabbed my hand,

"Quick, lets make run for it!" I knew we had seconds to act, so I squeezed his hand and ran for the exit.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Jaspers POV**

I had to take care that I wouldn't pull Bella's arm off, but I knew I couldn't hurt her. I could feel excitement and rebellion rolling of her in waves and it was getting me even more pumped up.

We had to slow a few times as Bella tripped over nothing, but we kept pushing past people. As soon I we were outside, and out of view I threw her on my back and took off running.

Now where to? I headed toward Seattle knowing that nothing fun can come from Forks, or the surrounding area.

"Where are we going?" I heard Bella whisper in my ear.

"Surprise" I announced, completely clueless about where we were headed. I sent her a wave of curiousness just for fun, but then is started to calm her.

I didn't know how long it would be before she had another chance so I knew I had to be special. She needed something she had never tried before, something exciting.

An idea hit me as I had a flashback to Emmet a few years ago, raving about his newest favourite activity.

Cable Wakeboarding! Perfect!

**Bella POV**

I was dying to know where we were going. At this point I will be happy with anywhere but a mall.

"Are we there yet?" I asked in my most annoying voice.

"Almost, few more minutes" I heard the reply. I rushed to put my head back into his shoulder. It was a lot smoother then with Edward, but I still didn't like the speed.

I felt Jasper start to slow down and my anticipation start to build. I wasn't sure if it was due to him or me but at this point I couldn't care.

He let me down and grabbed my hand, pulling me down a side street in the outskirts of Seattle.

We turned a corner and he stopped suddenly.

What the hell is that? All I could see was this huge dam and a line up of people in lifejackets on one side.

I looked at Jasper and he was staring at me expectantly, I'm sure hoping for me to say something.

"Wow…It looks…really interesting" I tried, but he just laughed at me.

"You have no idea what it is do you?" He continued with out waiting for a reply.

"We are going cable wakeboarding. I have never tried it but Emmet was obsessed with it a few years ago, he loved it. First things first, lets head to the gift shop and buy some bathers to wear.

As we got closer, it was easier to tell what was happening. People in the line were grabbing on to a handle as it went past, and it dragged them around the dam in stead of a boat. It wasn't quite wake boarding, as there wasn't any wake, but it looked fun anyway.

I wait for the next person to get started but as soon as they grabbed it they just did a complete nosedive.

That's what I was gonna do! Just as I started to freak out about making a total fool of myself Jasper put a calming hand on my shoulder.

"You'll be fine." I raised an eyebrow at him, knowing I would not be fine.

"Well I haven't done it before either, so we can make fools of ourselves together." This sound much more likely and I tried to calm down.

We entered the gift shop, and as he was working out entry I started to look at swimsuits. I chose a simple black one piece, thinking it would give me less chance of flashing someone.

After quickly getting changed, trying not to think about what I would be doing, I left the change room and walked straight into Jasper. I started to bounce backward, but he caught me before I could go too far.

He smiled at me, but thankfully didn't comment. I got enough teasing from Emmet and Edward about being clumsy; it was nice to have some time away from that.

The attendant fitted us with life jackets, and explained the rules to us.

"You're new, so you might want to start with knee boarding until you get the hang of it. It can be pretty different to when you're behind a boat. Do you see the buoys just before each turn, try and go between them. If you do you shouldn't have a problem making the corner. Just let them know when you're down there that you are new. Oh and your arms might be a bit sore tomorrow."

She left it at that and we headed down to join the line.

"You can go first" I offered, hoping he wouldn't be there to see me fall flat on my face.

"If I go first, then you will back out. Sorry love, you're going first."

"Fine" I grumbled, knowing everyone would see me fall flat on my face before the end of the day anyway.

As we got closer we grabbed some kneeboards and before I knew it, it was my turn.

I let the guy know I was new and he showed my how to sit on the platform and told me he would tell me when to grab the cable. I felt my self get hit with a wave of confidence and I smiled gratefully at Jasper.

"The cable is coming, you ready? Grab it…NOW"

Crap, I missed it!

"Don't worry another one will come in a sec. Here it comes ready?"

Just as he said Now, I felt another surge of confidence go through me and I grabbed the bar.

The force hit me harder then I thought it would, and I ended up hitting the water. I stumble out of the dam and went back to the platform. Luckily there weren't to many people waiting. I saw Jasper holding back a smirk so a threw a glare at him

"Don't worry, everyone does that the first time. Your friend here will do it too." The attendant told me. I laughed when I saw the smirk quickly leave Jaspers face.

I sat in position and waited for the signal. As soon I heard it I was ready for the force and suddenly I was flying across the water.

The feeling was amazing. The water was splashing up either side of me, just sprinkling my feet, and the wind blowing my hair behind me. I was so distracted by how much I was enjoying it I forgot the instructions about corners.

It all flashed back to me when I saw two red buoys pass about three feet to my left.

I came up to the corner and was thrown into the water hard. I came up to spluttering and saw an empty cable go past. I smiled to myself, knowing Jasper missed one. The next cable went past and Jasper sailed by poking his tongue out at me. He got distracted though and fell of a bout twelve feet from me. I laughed out loud, seeing him come out of the water, with his wet hair sticking up everywhere.

I poked my tongue out at him this time and we both laughed as we climbed onto the footpath. I couldn't wait to try again, so grabbing his hand I ran back to the platform, pulling him along.

I got him to go first, and was rewarded when he plunged straight into the water. I couldn't hold back the laughter and almost fell in my self. I managed to catch my self but not before Jasper saw. He has more control then I do, so managed to keep it to a smirk.

He took off again and watching him he seemed more beautiful then even Rosalie.

We kept going for hours, until the park was closing and the sun was setting. Jasper had gotten the hang of knee boarding and moved onto wake boarding pretty quickly of course. Stupid coordinated vampires. I had taken a bit longer, but by the time the sun was setting I really had the hang of it. I decided not to move up to wake boarding just yet, not quite ready to hit the water again. Just being good at knee boarding was enough for me. I loved not being the one always falling and being clumsy. When I was on the water I felt almost as graceful as a vampire.

Finally we got kicked out, and we after getting changed we walked back down the side road. Once we were in a forested area Jasper paused and turned to me,

"Ready to go back?" I paused,

"Will Alice be really upset?"

"Don't worry, I'll protect you from the pixie wrath." He smiled, and picked me up gently putting me on his back.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, and instantly felt myself getting drowsy.

**--**

**A/N**

**I don't know if there are any cable wakeboarding places in Seattle, but I sounded perfect for them. If you're not too sure what it is still, check out the website on my profile.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Sorry, just realised I forgot to put a disclaimer in earlier chapters, so this goes for those ones to: I do not own anything connected to Twilight**

**Chapter 3**

**Bella POV**

I woke up just as we were going up the Cullen's drive, and slowing down to a human pace. Instead of being on Jaspers back he was carrying me bridal style. He must of felt my confusion cause he quickly enlightened me.

"You fell asleep, and I was worried you wouldn't hold on tight enough, so I thought it would be easier to carry you this way."

I was still half asleep, so my brain wasn't able to do much more then smile up at him. I could feel his worry radiating off him and it all came flying back to me. Leaving Alice at the mall, running to Seattle and the cable wake boarding.

"Do you think she will be really upset?" I asked Jasper, dreading his answer. He must have felt my worry, as he quickly reigned in his emotions and tried to calm me.

He didn't have a chance to answer as we were at the front door. I could see a flash of yellow parked around the side, so I knew she was home. I flashed Jasper what I hoped was a comforting smile as he put me down and held the front door open.

I walked into the lounge, and immediately saw Alice curled up in a ball on the sofa.

"Oh Alice, we're so sorry" I exclaimed when I saw what a mess she was. I hadn't seen her like this since she guilt-tripped me into letting her plan the wedding.

She turned away from me, with the same puppy dog pout on her face.

"We really are sorry love, its just neither of us could take much more shopping" Jasper quickly jumped to her side, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

"It's fine… I guess… don't worry about it" Her small voice still seemed to echo in the room.

"I'll forgive you, but on two conditions." Her eyes looked at me as she said this and my guilt was suddenly replaced with dread for whatever she was planning.

"One, you come shopping with me tomorrow, to make up for it. I promise though, no clothes." She paused, gauging our reactions. I was ecstatic she didn't want to shop for clothes, but very curious as to why. I caught Jaspers eye and could see his emotions reflecting mine. I gave him a quick nod, but before either of us could say anything Alice already knew.

"Yay! Oh its gonna be so much fun, trust me, I know you hate shopping but you'll love it. Anyway my second condition, is take me with you next time you go cable wakeboarding, that looked so much fun. You did really well Bella, for a human and all." She kept blabbering on so fast I could hardly understand her. It was nice to see my best friend get her spark back though.

I tuned back in to what she was saying when I saw she was looking straight at me.

"I won't tell Edward, but he will probably see it in our minds anyway and he really wouldn't approve you know. I promised him I wouldn't let you anywhere near anything that could possibly harm you."

I held up a hand to stop her.

"I know he wouldn't approve Alice, but it didn't kill me, did it?" I did my best not to scream as I heard her reminder of my fiancé, and all his rules about my safety. I may be a klutz, but this was getting way out of hand.

"You should go call him. He is expecting you're call twice a day, and you know if you don't call he will be down here so fast-"

I cut her off again, trying not to get to upset. I settled for just rolling my eyes at her as I started to head to the kitchen to grab a phone when I heard Jasper ask,

"Why not clothes shopping, you love clothes shopping?"

I paused in the doorway, turning to hear the answer that I, too, was dying to hear.

"Well…" She paused, biting her bottom lip. She was clearly buying time.

"Why Alice?" I asked bluntly, wondering if it would be an answer I didn't want to hear.

"Well… you two left me alone in the mall all day long, and I hand no one there, I had to distract myself from the visions of you two laughing and knee boarding." She paused again to see if we were buying it. I wasn't.

"What have you done Alice?" I repeated, not in the mood for playing around.

"I may have… replacedallofbothyourwardrobes." She said this so quickly it took me a minute to process it.

I clicked for Jasper faster then it clicked for me.

"What?!" He bellowed jumping from the couch and running up the stairs at vampire speed to inspect the damage.

"When you say all, you don't mean… all, do you?" I whispered from the doorway, where I was frozen in shock.

She nodded briefly, biting her bottom lip again.

"So what have you done with all our old clothes?" I asked timidly, hoping there was something I could salvage.

"It was donated to a homeless shelter in Seattle. You wouldn't ask those poor, underprivileged women to give back what little salvation they have been given, would you."

Stupid, manipulative pixie. She knew I would never I consider it. I threw her my best glare and stomped up the stairs to the wardrobe she had installed in Edwards room for me.

Opening the door I could already see the damage. My selection had trebled in size, and the entire floor of it was covered in different pairs of shoes.

I started with my inspection of the shoes and was slightly relived to see she had enough sense to buy a few pairs of flats for me, and one comfy looking pair of slippers, but all the stiletto boots and peep-toe pumps I knew would be a death trap if I even though about walking in them, let alone climbing stairs or anything else my clumsiness had trouble with on a daily basis.

The clothes were all much brighter, and much tighter then anything I had owned before. There was a whole section devoted to different pairs of short-shorts. I saw a few long sleeved tops that were ok, but they were obviously worth a fortune.

I shuddered to think how much it had all cost. She had even replaced all my socks and underwear. Of course matching sets of bras and panties, and a few g-strings I knew would never have the tags removed. They were the sorts of thing I was embarrassed just owning let alone actually wearing.

Just as I picked up a barely-there black and red thong to inspect, Jasper walked in.

He raised his eyebrows when he saw what I was holding and I could see him fighting a smirk.

I quickly hid the offending item behind my back and feel my cheeks heat up as I studied my shoes.

"I came into see what the damage was in here, its obviously worse then I thought." I didn't need to see his face to be able to tell he was hiding a smile.

"Don't worry, mine is just as bad, she decided I needed a whole new image."

He was interrupted by my stomach grumbling.

"Come down stairs, we'll order a pizza" He smiled as he left the room and headed down stairs. I shot a glare at the underwear in my hand and threw it under the bed, hopefully never to be seen again.


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own twilight**

**Chapter 4**

**Bella POV**

I woke from a restless night of tossing and tuning. Without Edward there to hold me the nightmares of being abandoned came back. I was missing him greatly, but at the same time I resented the fact that I needed him to sleep. It made me feel as weak and fragile as he thought I was.

I had a quick shower and went back into my room, trying to find an outfit that Charlie would actually let me out of the house in. I shouldn't have been surprised that Alice had managed to convince him to let me stay at the Cullen's while the others were hunting, she could get him to jump of a cliff is she wanted.

After a lot of complaining to myself I decided to just grab the first outfit I saw, and was surprised to see it looked good. A pair of denim shorts, and a plain red tank top. It was still way to tight for my liking, but at least the shorts covered my ass, I didn't think many of the pairs in my new wardrobe would.

I went downstairs and helped myself to some cereal. Just as I was sitting down to eat Jasper and Alice walked in.

I had to do a double take when I saw Jasper. Black converse, skinny leg jeans and a black Ramones T-shirt. He actually looked good, really good.

How come he get a hot new 'emo-rocker' look, and I am stuck with a wardrobe that would make Lauren Mallory proud?

He must have read jealousy in my emotions cause he let out a laugh.

"I get a new style about every ten years, it is about time I got a look that actually works for me." He gave Alice a playful glare.

"Well I think you looked hot as a hippie" She laughed back at him. I could help the smile on my face when I pictured Jasper as a Hippie.

"We agreed not to mention that again! So what are we doing today then, Alice?" He cleverly managed to distract her with her plans before I could hear anything else about his past.

Bouncing on the spot she was torn between keeping it a surprise and telling everything.

Her excitement won and she rushed to explain,

"I have a great day planed for us. I know I promised you no clothes shopping so you don't have to worry about that. Instead we have a bunch of things to sort out for you wedding."

I cringed, picturing a day of flowers and tablecloths.

"Well I am sure you ladies will pick some beautiful things for Bella's wedding, such a shame I won't be of any use. All well, you two have fun." Jasper added quickly, backing from the room.

"Oh no you don't mister! If I have to go so do you, leaving yesterday was your idea!" I yelled before he could get out the door and leave me to suffer alone.

"But-" He tried to argue before Alice cut him off.

"Don't even think about bailing, I can make you a hippie again if I want!" I laughed at her threat, knowing she wouldn't hesitate to go through with it.

"Fine, I'll be in the car" he sulked of to the car, obviously defeated.

I started to follow him, sulking just as much before Alice interrupted me,

"You need to call Edward, he is waiting."

With another eye roll I headed for the phone.

**Jasper's POV**

After looking at a million different shades of blue for the seat covering, we had moved on to a million different shades of silver to tie in a bow around them.

I love Alice but I will never understand how it took her over an hour to pick the 'right shade of blue.' It's all blue for god's sake!

I felt the same feelings of boredom and frustration coming from Bella. At least I wasn't the only one suffering I suppose. Though I didn't like to see Bella doing anything she didn't want to do.

I had never spent much time with her until yesterday, and she really surprised me. I had only invited her cause I knew I would never get away alone but spending time with her really shocked me. She was so different then whenever she is with Edward. She was still self conscious and shy, but with out Edward there all her other personality traits came through so much stronger. She was actually quite funny, and she sure was brave. Not many other teenage girls would be willing to take a chance and run away with their fiancés brother, but she did any way.

Alice, who was torn between two different ribbons that I swear were exactly the same colour and asking my opinion on them, jerked me away from my thoughts.

"Um… I really like the one on the…left. It has more depth." I buffed my way through, spending decades with Alice had trained me well.

"That's just what I was thinking Jazzy!" She happily discarded the unwanted colour swatch and headed to the counter to sort out the order.

Bella looked at me, her emotions showing her confusion.

"What gave that one more depth?" She asked, clearly wondering how I could even tell between them,

"How should I know?" I winked at her, and follow Alice into the florist.

I felt her understanding and amusement when she realised I was faking it. I also felt… relief? She must have been relieved that she wasn't colour blind or something.

I caught up to Alice inspecting a vase of freesias. I crept up behind her and made her jump about a foot when I said straight in her ear,

"I think we should leave the freesias, Bella smells strongly enough of them."

After she realised it was me she smiled and quickly moved on. I felt a wave of embarrassment form behind me and turned to see Bella there.

"Bells honey, it was a compliment." I smiled when I saw the red in her cheeks deepen even more. Truth was I hardly noticed her smell anymore. Once I got to know her, I saw her more as a person, and less as a food group. Her blood hardly bothered me at all.

I stood politely next to Alice as she discussed the advantages of calla lilies over oriental lilies. I was bored out of my brain, and Bella's similar feelings were not helping me to control my own.

She caught my eye, and she started pulling faces behind Alice's back. I smiled, and then struggled to hold back a laugh as she started imitating Alice's hand gestures.

Both our smiles ceased when Alice spun on the spot to face her,

"Just because I am not facing you, doesn't mean I can't see you." She reminded Bella, though she had a smile on her face as she said it so I knew she wasn't too mad.

I sent a wave of calm to Bella, and a wave of amusement to Alice and soon they were both laughing over the whole situation.

Finally after 3 hours surrounded by the overwhelming smell of pollen, Alice made her choices. I wasn't paying attention to the final flowers, I was to eager to get out of there, and I could tell Bella wasn't either so lets hope for her sake they looked good.

On the way home I couldn't help thinking what a waste five and a half hours of bridal shopping was. I mean, not for me, I have eternal life, but for Bella. She only has so long left as a human, and she is wasting it picking out her favourite shade of silver. It didn't seem fair.

With not long left until the wedding. I told my self I should do all I can for my new friend and soon to be sister, to make sure her last days as a human were well spent.


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight**

**Chapter 5**

**Jaspers POV**

I heard the shower switch off just as I got off the phone, finalising the bookings for today's plans. I smiled, hoping Bella would be quick, I couldn't wait for today's adventure, I knew she would love it. Alice bounded in to the kitchen, talking a mile a minute.

"Oh today is gonna be so much fun. That is such a great idea. Do you think tell Edward though? You know he wouldn't approve, and I did promise him I would let him know everything she was doi-"

She got cut off by Bella, who was suddenly standing in the doorway.

"Tell Edward what?"

"Tell Edward about our plans for the day" I answered, "Which by the way we won't be telling him until later, much later." I threw her a mischievous smile, but then had to put all my energy into calming Alice.

"So what are our plans for today anyway?" Bella asked as she poured herself a bowl of cereal.

"That is a surprise, but eat fast so we can get going" I wasn't going to tell her anything until we got there, I knew she would spend the whole trip panicking, and that makes it kind of hard to drive. She started to worry, but quickly calmed it, and enhanced the excitement she was feeling.

Alice rushed to reassure her,

"Don't worry, I have already seen you loving it. We are gonna have so much fun. I'm not sure about your outfit though."

I felt her self-consciousness come at me and I calmed her again.

"You look great, but you might want to put on some long pant, denim if possible, and a long sleeved top if possible. Try get as many layers as possible." I advised, remembering the bruises I had seen human receive from this.

She looked at me doubtfully, but went upstairs to follow my orders. When I she finally came out of her room I couldn't wait any more. Alice's excitement and impatience pushed me over the edge.

I sprinted up the stairs before she had even shut the door, and ran out of the house with her, only putting her down in front of my car.

"Wow, what sort of car is this?" Her amazement at my car made her temporarily forget her anger at my running with her.

"It is the new BMW 1 series, convertible. Rose is so pissed off I bought it first, it has only just been released, and is so much better then her crappy M3." I told her as we climbed in, happy to brag about my car at any point, the black convertible was my pride and joy.

"I'm glad I wasn't here when she found out you bought it" Bella said, feeling slightly scared from, I imagine, picturing Rosalie's tantrum.

"Yeah, it was pretty bad, but totally worth it." I winced slightly, remembering her mood swings for weeks, just to annoy me.

"Once she got so lustful for Emmet when Jasper was there, Jazz ended up kissing him! It was so funny, you should have seen Emmet's face!" Alice supplied.

"Thank you Alice, I thought that would never be mentioned" I said through clenched teeth, I drove me nuts that Rosalie knew my one weakness was my emotions, well that and this car, but she worshiped it too much to harm so much as a bolt.

I noticed Bella's feeling of fear and unease, and noticed her looking at the speedo, so I slowed down to just above the speed limit. I wanted her to enjoy herself, not spend the whole time hoping she would survive.

"Jasper, what going on. Why are we going so slow?" Alice whinged.

"You know how Bella feels about speeding Alice, live with it." I told her. Bella blushed, but shot me a grateful smile. We spent the rest of the trip in silence until Bella noticed the sign,

'Paintballing! 100m on left'

"Paintballing, you're taking me paintballing? I have always wanted to try it ever since I saw Ten Things I Hate About You! This is gonna be so much fun!" She exclaimed.

I was pleased; I thought she would need more convincing.

"This is a little bit different to the movie, this one uses guns." Alice informed her.

"But what if I trip and shoot some one accidently, or I shoot myself accidently?"

There was the panic I had been expecting; I sent her a wave of calmness, and a wave of confidence.

We got suited up, and given the guns, making sure they were on their softest setting. We decided it would be fair if it was me against the girls, as neither of them had done it before and I was more experienced. Alice decided that the girls would have pink paintballs, and I would have blue. I had booked one of the smaller fields just for us, so we headed out there.

"Wait guys," Bella stopped us just before we went in, "Human speed only, otherwise it is not fair." We agreed and headed into the field to find a hiding place.

I jumped behind an inflatable wall and crouched down, waiting for the buzzer to sound.

I went of, and I jumped out in front of it, gun at the ready. I always believe that the best defence is a good offense. I saw Alice running to get to cover, and I quickly shot at her, hitting her in the back. Suddenly I felt an assault on my side. Being a vampire if didn't feel like I was getting hit by a paintball. It was more like a soft poke, but I felt it nonetheless. I looked to my left and saw Bella shooting as many pink paintballs at me as she could. I open fired and got her twice in the stomach before she ducked behind cover. I couldn't see either of the girls so I got out of the open. I wanted to sniff them out, but it wasn't fair to Bella so I resorted to exploring the area.

**Bella POV**

I ducked behind a screen to catch my breath. I was really surprised at how much the paintballs actually hurt. I was having too much fun to care now, but I knew the marks would leave a bruise tomorrow.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard footsteps on my left; I raised my gun, but started backing up. I kept my side along the barrier to keep my balance and walked backward slowly.

The fear of being caught, mixed with the excitement of the game was amazing. It reminded me of playing hiding and seek as a child, waiting in you hiding place, not wanting to be caught, but at the same time hoping you would be so you could start again. It was just like that, only about ten times stronger.

I kept backing along the barrier as it turned a corned when I backed in to something rock hard.

I screamed in shock and spun to see what it was. The first thing I saw was a paintball gun so I screamed even louder and open fired with my eyes close.

Suddenly I realised I wasn't the only one screaming.

"Alice?" I asked finally opening my eyes and seeing my teammate standing there mirroring my pose with her eyes closed.

"Bella?" She asked, peeking through one eye. She realised it was me and threw her arms around me.

"I am so sorry, I thought you were Jasper." She said. I started to reply but paused when I saw a flash behind me.

"Hello Ladies!" Jasper jumped in front off us, covering us in as much blue as possible.

Alice and I screamed and run, tyring to shoot at him from over our shoulders and get to cover at the same time.

It continued like this into the afternoon, but luckily Alice and I managed to refrain from shoot each other again. I couldn't believe how much fun I was having. I wasn't too bad at aiming, and had only tripped a few times, although no one saw so it doesn't count.

I was crouched behind a waist height barrier trying to figure out where Jasper was when I heard Alice scream and Jasper laugh to my left. I laughed, picturing him sneaking up on her and jumped to the other side of the barrier so they couldn't see me.

Alice ran past me, and I called out to her as quietly as I could. Thanks to vampire hearing she heard me, and came and sat next to me.

"Jasper and I are both out of ammo, have you got much left?" She asked. I checked quickly, and was surprised to see I only had two shots left.

"Just two" I answered.

"Ok, we need a plan. He ducked over to the southern side of the field, just before the open section behind us?" Alice told me, I raised my eyebrows at her,

"Southern?"

"Right behind us"

"Oh, right"

"Here's the plan, I will call out the we are out of ammo and tell him to meet us in the middle of the field, we will walk to wards him looking defeated, and as soon as he is past any barriers he could hide behind, you raise you gun and shot him" She sounded like a battle sergeant with the plan. I guess living with Jasper was bound to rub off a bit.

She called out to him, and we got up and walked in to the open.

I saw him pass the last barrier so he was completely unprotected and raised my gun. I started to pulled the trigger and… I tripped, I felt the gun discharge and ended up flat on my very red face.

I heard Alice and Jasper both laughing and I gave them the death glare.

"You knew that would happen, didn't you Alice?" she looked guilty, and quickly stopped laughing.

"Well yeah, but look, you hit him on the foot, we won!"

I looked down and sure enough there were two pink splotches on his left foot. I run and hugged Alice, and we started jumping up and down screaming.

"Hang on" Jasper interrupted our celebrations, "That doesn't mean you won, we have to count it up."

"I already saw our counting, and we beat you by one shot. Nice work Bella!" Alice gave me a high five and we went back to our celebrating. Its not everyday you beat an army man like Jasper in a game like this.

He grumbled and complained but eventually he admitted defeat.

We handed back our outfits and guns, and Alice bolted to the nearest mirror to inspect the damage on her hair.

"All shoes and socks off and into the trunk before you get into my baby." Jasper yelled, and Alice and I didn't even bother arguing with him. We could tell he meant business.

Alice did, however, draw the line at the hairnets he tried to get us to wear. In the end he covered the seats and headrests in towels just in case. He was not taking any chances with his car.

I climbed in to the back seat and it wasn't long before Alice started complaining about the speed.

"Alice you have all of eternity, an extra half hour in my car won't kill you" Jasper put her in her place and she didn't mention it again. I started to wonder if he was just insisting on going slower so he could spend more time in his car. I wouldn't put it past him.

I decided it was a combination of the two, and I started to doze of. After fairly sleepless nights with Edward gone, and a long day like that I was really tired. I spread my self over the back seat, and felt a sudden wave of lethargy overcome me.

I mumbled thanks to Jasper and quickly feel asleep.

**--**

**A/N Just a quick thank you to all who have reviewed. **

**Also if anyone has any activities they want me to include just let me know and I'll try and include it.**

**There is a link for Jasper's car on my profile.**


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own twilight.**

**Chapter 6**

**Bella POV**

I woke up, just as we were pulling into the garage, feeling strangely refreshed. There was know way I would be getting back to sleep any time soon.

"Movie Night!" Alice announced, bouncing from the car to the house. I stayed in the car, not quite woken up enough to deal with Alice's over enthusiasm.

"It won't be that bad." Jasper told me. He must have been reading my emotions again. That skill could get annoying, but I loved all the confidence boosts he gave me.

"I hate horror movies even more then chick flicks, and Edward thought he was doing me a favour stealing all her movies." I blushed, feeling embarrassed that with everything in my life I still got scared by horror movie. I don't know why I was telling Jasper this, I hadn't told anyone. He was just so easy to talk to.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you from all the psycho killers." He smiled at me as he said this, and I knew he meant it.

I tried to come up with a witty response, but the second I looked into his eyes I lost my whole train of thought.

They were, of course topaz coloured, like Edward's but they were more gold, almost a honey colour. They were also deeper, more emotional. I felt like I could see his soul looking to his eyes, they told me everything. I just kept staring, unable to look away. Jasper smiled again and I saw the smile reach his eyes.

"What the hell are you two still doing in the car? You had better not be thinking about leaving again or so help me, I will take you both to the Mall of America, and you won't see outside for days."

Alice's threat brought me back to earth and as I unclipped my seatbelt I heard Jasper open the door for me.

I smiled as I climbed out, trying me best not to trip.

"Thanks Jazz." I headed to the house cursing myself. Jazz? That's Alice's name for him, what was I doing? He paused for a second, but followed me into the house. I snuck a look back, hoping he wasn't to upset but he had a huge smile on his face.

I felt so humiliated. As if calling him Jazz wasn't enough, I completely lost my self when I looked into his eyes. I am pretty sure he dazzled me. No, he can't of. Surely no one but Edward would dazzle me, right? Crap, I forgot to call Edward!

I went to find a phone so I could prove to him I was still alive.

**Edward POV**

"Chillax Bro!"

I growled at Emmett, and went back to my pacing.

"_Good thing that boy is immortal, or he would defiantly die young with the amount of time he spends stressing."_

I growled at him again and tried to block everyone out of my head. Bella had promised she would call me by 5pm, and it was already half past.

What if something happened? It was Bella, something always happened. If Jasper took her on his motorbike I would kill him. A motorbike is not suitable for a human, especially not my human! I was just about to call the hospital to see if she was in the emergency room when my phone finally rang.

_Smack that all on the floor _

_Smack that give me some more _

_Smack that 'till you get sore _

_Smack that oh-oooh!_

"Bella?" I almost screamed into the phone.

"Yeah, sorry I'm calling late, I feel asleep." Came her timed voice

"You're ok then? Nothing happened?"

"I'm just fine Edward" She sounded slightly irritated with my questioning but I ignored it. She doesn't know what is best for her, not like I do anyway.

"You're sure you alright?"

"Yes!"

"Good, then could you hold on for one second."

With out waiting for a reply, a held the phone as far away as possible.

"EMMETT!! You changed my ring tone again!!" I bellowed at him.

"Damn, I was hoping you had forgotten. Well, I think I smell I bear, gotta run!" He took off at vampire speed. I could have caught him, but I decided to get him later, it was more fun letting him run around scared.

"Sorry about that love."

"That ok, what did he change you ring tone to?"

"Don't worry about it love" I wasn't going to tell her that Emmett had decided that should be her theme song.

"Alright, well I gotta run. Alice is planning a movie night."

"Your welcome for taking all her movies" I smiled, I knew Bella hated chick flicks.

"Yeah… Thanks for that. I speak to you later, love you."

She's gone, that's odd. She usually hated getting off of the phone. She sounded different when she thanked me, almost sarcastic. I must be over thinking it, she must be grateful. She is probably just overwhelmed at how well I know her, and how thoughtful I am. That must be it. I put it out of my mind and took off after Emmett.

**Bella POV**

Hanging up, I was still slightly irritated with Edward. He thinks he knows what's beset for me, but what he doesn't see is that I don't always want what is best for me. I used to have Jake to escape to and have fun with. I could just be myself, with out worrying about what I am doing every second. Now I don't even have that and Edward doesn't see that I need a break every now and then.

I walked into the lounge room to see it had completely changes. Alice had but down the metal shutters over the glass wall, and covered all of the other windows so it would have been pitch black if the TV hadn't been on. She had also pushed most of the couches together to make a huge bed-like thing in the middle of the room.

"Bout time Bells, I have the music from the DVD menu memorised, and it is driving me nuts." Jasper sent a death glare to the TV and I had to laugh.

I started to walk into the room, but hesitated, I wasn't sure if Alice had created the space for her and Jasper or not. I didn't want to intrude. But if they were expecting me to sit with them I didn't want to look rude.

Before I could make a decision I felt a tugging around my waste, all of a sudden I was propped up on pillows next to Jasper.

He smiled at me, "Your indecision was killing me, and so was this music. Lets start already." He lifted the remote, but Alice snatched it from his hand before he could press anything.

"I made popcorn for Bella, just let me grab it." She bounced from the room leaving furious looking Jasper.

I couldn't help but laugh and he turned to look at me.

"You wouldn't be laughing if you had heard the same loop for the last twenty minutes."

"Sorry, how about I go mute it before Alice gets back."

I got up and switched off the volume on the TV. Heading back to the couch I managed to trip over thin air. I closed my eyes before the impact but luckily I was close enough to the couch that I didn't hit the floor.

I opened my eyes to see I had fallen right into Jaspers lap. I looked into his eyes, and all though left me again. He was defiantly dazzling me.

I unconsciously leaned up toward him, at the same time he started to lean down. I could see his eyes flicking between my eyes and my lips and I knew what he wanted, but I was too dazzled to think of anything but how good his lips would feel against mine.

"Do you want a drink too?" We had almost closed the gap when Alice yelled out. We froze for a second before I yelled out a shaky,

"No thanks."

I jumped back into my spot, trying not to think about what had just happened. I looked over at him and caught him staring at me, his expression unreadable.

He started to shuffle about, and crossed his legs away from me. He was sitting really strangely.

"Hey Alice can we get a blanket in here?" He yelled out, looking down at the floor.

"What do you need a blanket for Jazz?" She asked, as she walked in holding a huge bowl of popcorn, and a large blanket.

"Well…you know…I just thought… Bella might get cold." He stuttered, and I realised this was the first time I had not seen him oozing confidence. She threw the blanket over all of us.

She put the sound back on and started the movie and we all settled back into the cushions.

About a quarter way into the movie I couldn't help but jump and scream. Alice started to laugh at me, but Jasper just calmed me down. He put his ice-cold hand on my thigh.

We smiled at each other. I gave him a silent thank you, and went back to the movie.

It wasn't until a few minutes later that I realised his hand was still on my leg. I smiled at the comfort, and snuggled closer to his side.

**--**

**Just wanted to say another thanks to those who are leaving reviews, they always make me smile!**


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Just wanted to say sorry I haven't updated in while, I have midterms atm and have needed to put all my time into studying. **

**--**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight **

**Chapter 7**

**Bella POV**

Finally, after what felt like hours of tossing and turning, I decided it was a decent enough hour to get out of bed. As if not having Edward there wasn't destroying my sleeping habits enough, I had spent most of the night thinking about last night.

As I hopped in the shower, I figured I would use the time to mull things over a bit more.

Jasper was a great guy, he really was. I really appreciated all that he was doing for me, keeping my mind off of Edward and everything while he was hunting. He was such a great brother.

I let out I deep sigh, no matter how much I tried to convince myself otherwise, deep down I knew he wasn't just a brother, not anymore at least. Getting to know him has made me see what an amazing person/vampire he really was. He was the one person here who could truly understand me. I had always thought Edward and Alice could, but the more time I spend with Jasper, the more I have started to see that they saw what they wanted to see, and just assumed the rest. Jasper really listened to me, like Edward used to when we first met.

Edward. What do I think about Edward? This was confusing me more then anything. He used to be… everything I ever wanted. But now? He is still a great guy, but we just don't have the same connection we used to. He stopped seeing me as Bella, and started to see me as some sort of china doll. Would things get better after he changed me, of would he always be my protector, before anything? I know even after I am changed, I will not be his equal, he is just too… God-like, but it would be nice if he could even pretend I was worthy of him.

Jasper treated me like an equal. Oh God, now I am back at Jasper.

I turned off the shower when I realised I could spend hours going around in circles. I looked out of the window, trying to decide what to wear when I noticed it was sunny. Since when has there been sun in Forks? Since we would be spending the day inside I just threw on a pair of old trackies and a tank top before heading downstairs for breakfast.

First thing I saw when I got into the kitchen was Jasper, looking incredibly confused over a fry pan, and some sort of pink liquid that had covered the entire room, Jasper included.

I could help but let out a laugh, and he spun around looking defensive.

"What is the point of a mixing machine when everything just fly's out of top anyway?

I was still to busy laughing to answer, it looked just like a scene from a movie except instead of a four year old in the kitchen, it was Jasper.

I felt waves of calm wash over me, and I felt grateful, my sides were starting to hurt.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. Trust me, if you could see yourself, you would see my point."

He didn't answer; he just looked at his feet. I felt so bad, he was just trying to cook me breakfast.

"Aww, Jazz, I am sorry, I really appreciate you trying to cook. Really, I do.

He perked up as soon as I said Jazz, and I felt a bit better for laughing at him.

"I'll help you clean up" I offered, and grabbed a cloth from the sink.

"Wait, does it at least taste ok?" He stuck his finger into what was left in the blender, and held it out to me. I felt so bad for laughing at him I quickly leaned forward to taste it.

As soon as my tongue touched his finger I was shocked, not just at myself, and what I was doing, but also for the taste of him, and his smoothie. It was incredible! I had never tasted anything like it. It was a strawberry smoothie but different to any I had tasted before. I realised what I was doing, and how this must look, so I quickly jumped back.

I was just about to apologise, when I got caught in his eyes again. I could feel myself being dazzled by him by him again, but this time I didn't mind.

"So, from your emotions, I'm guessing you liked it." He asked with a knowing smile, breaking me from my trance.

"Oh my God! That has to be one of the most amazing things I have ever tasted." I answered as soon as I got my voice back.

"Me, or the smoothie?" He asked. I threw the towel at him, refusing to answer and grabbed another to start cleaning.

With my experience in cleaning up after Charlie, and his vampire speed, we were done in no time.

I grabbed some cereal as Jasper went to have a shower. He came down ten minutes later, with his hair still wet, and pushed back from his face. He smiled at me as he came into the kitchen,

"So I have a deal for you. I'll show you how to make the smoothie, if you show me how to stop it going anywhere."

I laughed,

"Deal!"

We got to work on the smoothie, and after he had showed me all of the ingredients and went hunting for the lid. I found it wrapped up in the box and pulled it out to demonstrate to Jasper.

Once everything was locked into place we both reached for the switch. I felt my warm fingers touch his cold one, and a jolt of electricity surged through my hand.

I was shocked, and pulled my hand, back, but Jasper just continued like nothing had happened. He switched it on to full speed, and turned to give me his biggest smile.

"You alright?" He asked, with a smirk on his face. He knew what he did to me, and it was driving me crazy.

"Just fine" My stubborn side answered. He poured me my drink and a tasted it. It was almost as good as before, though I couldn't help feeling something was missing. Ice, I realised would make it perfect. I managed to refrain from bringing it up when I realised what the suggestion would do to his ego. The drink was still the best I had anyway.

"Well?"

"It's perfect, thanks for the recipe." I looked around and noticed the clock on the microwave they had. We had spent most of the day in the kitchen. It wasn't until then I noticed Alice wasn't here.

"Where is Alice anyway?"

"She's hunting for the day, and she said something about getting an outfit for tonight." He said slyly.

"Wait, tonight, what is tonight?" I started to worry until I felt that ever-present mix of calm and confidence.

"Haven't you learnt by now? I'm a big fan of surprises"

"Haven't you leant by now? I'm not!"

He laughed at my response, but I knew he wouldn't tell me. I decided to get a bit more comfortable, and as I moved to the lounge room my phone started buzzing

"Hi Edward."

"I tried calling you earlier, why didn't you answer?" His irritated voice came over the line. This bugged me, not even a hello for your fiancé?

"My phone was set to vibrate, I didn't realise you were calling." I answered curtly. My phone was always on vibrate; it was just a habit from school I guess.

I was not in the mood for his moods, and I just wanted the old Edward to talk to, I missed him dearly. I put him on speakerphone, and checked the call log. Sure enough two missed calls from Edward.

"Well, can you keep it on loud in future, I was worried about you." He softened for his last statement, and I felt my irritation melt away.

"I'll keep it on me, although you really don't need to worry about me, Jasper will take care of me." I saw he had walked into the lounge too, and I smiled at him.

"What do you mean Jasper will take care of you? Where is Alice, she said she would be there too? What if he can't control your self? What is going to happen when you trip and cut yourself and there is no one there to stop him this time?" I stopped listening to his rant when I noticed the waves of shame and guilt coming from Jasper next to me. I grabbed his hand, and tried to calm him. He reigned in his emotions, but looking in his eyes I could see they were still there.

My irritation with Edward built up again. Jasper has been amazing while he has been gone; he has no right to act like this.

"Look, Jasper has taken great care of me, better then Alice has while you have been away. At least he actually listens to me, and what I want. You have no right to talk about your brother that way, you should trust him more." I hung up, and switched off my phone.

I felt bad for talking to Edward that way, but when I saw how upset Jasper was, I just got annoyed again. How could he do this to his brother?

Jasper's phone started buzzing; I noticed it, too, was set to vibrate. I thought I was the only one who did that.

He looked at the caller ID and switched it off too. I'm guessing it was Edward.

Jasper still looked dejected, so I climbed into his lap, and gave him a hug. He smiled, and put his arm around me. He stroked my cheek with his other hand,

"You can always tell what I am feeling, better then Alice." He took his hand away, but rested it on my leg again, just like last night.

"I'm sorry about Edward, he really had no right to say the things he did."

"It's not your job to apologise for him. Thank you for standing up to him for me, I know it must have taken a lot."

"I meant it Jazz. You have been so good, I don't think I would have survived this week without you."

I leaned into his chest, amazed at how comfortable I was there.

"Can I ask you something, you don't have to answer or anything, I was just wondering." He hesitated for a second but then continued. "Before I came in, and before Edward mentioned me, you were annoyed with him. I was just wondering why."

I didn't answer immediately, did I really want to talk about it, and with Jasper of all people? I realised that Jasper would be the best person to talk to, as he is the one person who can truly empathize.

"You don't have to" He said after I was silent.

"No, I want to, I just don't know where to start." I answer truthfully.

I took a deep breath, and told him everything. Well everything about Edward, I was still to confused about Jasper to talk about that. Plus I could never talk to him about that, how embarrassing.

I told him how I missed how we used to be, and how I thought he only thought of me as something to protect. I told about how I felt smothered by him, and how ever since he has left I realised just how little I had been feeling like myself while he was here.

I spent I hours talking and crying. I felt bad for ruining Jasper's t-shirt, but I knew he wouldn't mind. He just listened, and understood. It felt so good to get it all off of my chest. I realised I was way to comfortable on his lap, but I didn't care.

After a while I calm down, and we just sat in silence. I was clinging to his chest and he was playing with my hair. It was really calming.

I heard the front door open and Alice walked into the room. She picked me up off of Jasper, and gave me a huge hug.

"I saw what you said, and I had no idea you felt this way." She smiled at me comfortingly. "I know just what you need, a distraction. Up to my room, we need to get ready to go out."

The last thing I wanted was to go out tonight, but I didn't have the energy to argue. I left the room, but paused when I heard my name mentioned in the other room.

"Bella doesn't want to go out Alice, can't we just have the night in?" I smiled as Jasper stood up for me.

"She needs to get out, she need something to take her mind off things. Thank you for taking such good care of her though, you really are amazing."

I realised he was fighting a losing battle, so I headed upstairs to wait in Alice's room for whatever torture she was going to inflict tonight.

**--**

**Hope you liked this chapter, I'm not to pleased with it but I wanted to get something out. **


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: If song lyrics annoy anyone, they will be in italics, just ignore them. **

**Disclaimer: **I do not own twilight.

**Chapter 8**

**Bella POV**

Alice managed to keep me in her room for over an hour as she did her best to make me 'presentable'. I tried to get out of it and just get myself ready, but she just guilt-tripped me into staying. Evil, manipulative pixie!

She managed to spend the entire time chatting in about one thing or another. I honestly tried to listen at first, but my mind just kept wandering to other topics.

After what she called a 'light touch' of make up (which looked like way too much to me), and teasing up my normally flat hair she finally let me get dressed. Of course it was brand new, but it was actually cute. It was less revealing then most of the things she gave me, and a lot more my style. It was a silvery, knee length, strapless dress that had a sweetheart neckline and an A-line skirt. It also had this ballerina-ish blue ruffle at the bottom, which I quite liked.

Crap, it is strapless. I started to panic that it would fall down, but Alice kept going on about how she was sure it would be tight enough, and in the end I gave up arguing with her. At least it was a reasonable length. It was not so long that I would trip over it, but not so short that when I did trip over something, I wouldn't flash anybody.

After losing a battle about wearing flats, I ended up in low heels, precariously trying to make it down the stairs safely.

I was almost all the way down when Jasper came out of the lounge room. He seemed to freeze when he saw me. I made the mistake of looking in to those beautiful eyes of his and instantly lost my footing on the last step.

I was quickly caught by those rock hard arms that were beginning to feel much more comfortable then they should. I looked up to thank Jasper, but was caught of guard when I saw he was staring at me intently. I instantly felt self conscious, was Alice's work too much? I felt a hit of confidence and self-assurance flow through me, and I knew he had picked up on my emotions.

"What are you two doing? Let go of Bella so we can get going." Alice called out as she headed for the door, not even looking at us.

I jumped out of his arms at the same time he pulled his arms back. I grabbed my bag and headed out the door, avoiding Jasper's eyes.

"For the record Bella, you really do look beautiful tonight."

I heard him say this, but I couldn't think of a reply. I just turned bright red, and kept leaving.

We ended up taking Alice's Porsche, as she didn't think she got to drive it as much as she used to.

I didn't bother asking where we were going; I knew it was just a waste of time. I just sat in that back, pondering the different ways I would be forced into the centre of attention tonight. Alice was right about one thing though; it did take my mind off all my other issues.

We pulled into a small car park off a main road in Seattle and Alice pulled me out of the back.

"Just look confident and stick with Jasper for the next few minutes." She advised me.

I just stood there, confused, until Jasper put his arm around me and pulled me toward the building. I felt him easing my confusion, but I still didn't know what was going on.

I finally understood when I saw the bouncer standing at the front door. Alice strutted over to him in her short, green cocktail dress that had a low v- neck. She smiled at him, and that chatted happily for a couple of minutes before he let us pass. Jasper just ushered me in, keeping the bouncer from getting to good a look at me. As soon as we were in Alice grabbed, Jasper's hand and I look the opportunity to hiss at them,

"You took me to a bar!"

"No, not just a bar. A karaoke bar!" Alice exclaimed happily, somehow managing to bounce on the spot but still look sophisticated.

I almost passed out when she said this but Jasper grabbed my hand and dragged me to one of the tables in the back.

"I have a deal for you," He offered, "If you sing one song, with all the help I can give you, then Alice will perform whatever song you like"

I hesitated; I really didn't want to go on stage, in front of all of those people.

"How about if I sing too, only I get to chose my own song." He tried to sweeten the deal.

"Oh please, please, please Bella, Jasper never sings in public." Alice added.

"Fine, but it had better be a reasonable song, and you two are going first." I agreed, because I knew I would give in eventually, and hopefully this way it would be over sooner. Also Alice had me wanting to hear Jasper sing, I knew he played guitar, but had never actually heard him play.

**Jasper POV**

I could tell Bella was dying with curiosity to hear me sing, and truthfully I wanted to sing for her. I had the perfect song in mind for her; I just hope she can take a joke.

After singing the three of us up I headed back to the girls,

"Well Alice, your first. What will she be singing Bella?" I asked. I could see the wheels turning in her head as she though about tried to think of the best way to embarrass Alice.

"Soulja Boy! And I wanna see you do the Soulja Boy dance too." She smirked at Alice.

I laughed quietly to myself, wondering if Bella knew the secret meaning behind the song. I knew Alice didn't, and I had no intention of telling her. Why ruin Bella's fun?

Alice would never refuse, if it meant Bella would be the centre of attention, so she jumped up on stage an grabbed the mike.

It was hilarious feeling the amusement and shock coming from the audience as they watched this stunningly beautiful woman trying to rap.

Bella loved the performance; she was in stitches the whole time. The first time that Alice did the dance, I had to calm her down just so that she could breath.

She finally stepped down from the stage, sending Bella daggers the whole time. She had a slight smile on her face though, so I could tell se wasn't too upset.

As Alice fought her way through the crowds to us, I leant over to whisper in Bella's ear,

"I chose this song just for you." I left before she could ask questions, and pick up a microphone.

_She said "I've gotta be honest,_

_You're wasting your time if you're fishing round here."_

I saw her smile after the first few lines, she must have recognized the song.

_And I said "you must be mistaken,_

_I'm not fooling... this feeling is real"_

_She said "you gotta be crazy,_

_What do you take me for? Some kind of easy mark?_

_"You've got wits, you've got looks,_

_You've got passion, but I swear that you've got me all wrong."_

I paused before the chorus, to have a good look at the girls. Bella was staring at me, full of awe, she had a smile on her face that was the biggest I had seen in a while, and her emotions were bouncing off the walls. Alice was staring at me with a knowing smile, I was pretty sure she knew what was going, but to my surprise she didn't seem to mind. She had developed into my little sister a while ago, and we both knew it. I had thought there would be some jealousy there anyway, but there didn't seem to be.

_All wrong._

_All wrong._

_But you got me..._

_I'll be true, I'll be useful..._

_I'll be cavalier...I'll be yours my dear._

_And I'll belong to you..._

_If you'll just let me through._

I really wished Bella would let me through. She started to this afternoon, but the was so much more to her.

_This is easy as lovers go,_

_So don't complicate it by hesitating._

_And this is wonderful as loving goes,_

_This is tailor-made, what's the sense in waiting?_

_And I said "I've gotta be honest_

_I've been waiting for you all my life."_

_For so long I thought I was asylum bound,_

_But just seeing you makes me think twice._

_And being with you here makes me sane,_

_I fear I'll go crazy if you leave my side._

_You've got wits... you've got looks,_

_You've got passion but are you brave enough to leave with me tonight?_

I saw her laugh at this line, from her emotions I am guessing had been asking herself if she brave enough.

_Tonight._

_Tonight._

_But you've got me..._

_I'll be true, I'll be useful..._

_I'll be cavalier...I'll be yours my dear._

_And I'll belong to you..._

_If you'll just let me through._

_This is easy as lovers go,_

_So don't complicate it by hesitating._

_And this is wonderful as loving goes,_

_This is tailor-made, what's the sense in waiting?_

_This is easy as lovers go,_

_So don't complicate it by hesitating._

_And this is wonderful as loving goes,_

_This is tailor-made, what's the sense in waiting?_

I locked eyes with Bella for the last chorus, and held her gaze as I headed back to the table.

"Well?" I asked with a smile, although it was pretty obvious what she was thinking.

"That was… I mean it… you were just…wow." She stuttered. I could not have asked for a better response.

"You were great Jasper, you really should perform for people more often, Edward is convinced that he is the only musical genius in the family. When is Bella singing?" Alice rushed in with.

"There is someone in between us, but then she is next." As soon as I mentioned this her emotions almost knocked me over, and it took all I had to calm her down, then give her the confidence to perform.

"What song it is? Please tell me, so I can be prepared?" She begged. Seeing her pouting face almost made me cave, but luckily Alice interrupted,

"Not a chance Bella, don't worry though it fits you well." She said this hiding a smile and I realised she must have seen my choice.

The guy on stage finished, and I pulled Bella off her chair.

"Lets go!" It took a bit of vampire strength, and a lot of confidence boosts, but she got up on the stage and started to sing.

As soon as the lyrics started she threw me a glare, but I could feel her amusement at the same time.

_I need time (time)_

_Love (love)_

_Joy (joy)_

_I need space_

_I need me _

_(Action!) _

_Say hello to the girl that I am!_

_You're gonna have to see through my perspective_

_I need to make mistakes just to learn who I am_

_And I don't wanna be so damn protected_

_There must be another way_

_Cause I believe in taking chances_

_But who am I to say_

_What a girl is to do_

_God, I need some answers _

It was the ultimate in pop songs, but I couldn't help getting Bella to sing it. Hopefully it will make her see what a short leash Edward has her on.

_What am I to do with my life_

_(You will find it out don't worry)_

_How Am I supposed to know what's right?_

_(You just got to do it your way)_

_I can't help the way I feel_

_But my life has been so overprotected _

As the chorus started she began to get into it. She started needing a lot less confidence from me and I was proud of her.

_I tell 'em what I like_

_What I want_

_What I don't_

_But every time I do I stand corrected_

_Things that I've been told_

_I can't believe what I hear about the world, I realize_

_I'm Overprotected _

_There must be another way_

_Cause I believe in taking chances_

_But who am I to say_

_What a girl is to do_

_God I need some answers_

I was absolutely enthralled by Bella's performance; she actually had a really sweet voice.

"So what is going Jazzy?" I turned to look at Alice, I knew exactly what she meant, I had been wondering the same thing for a while myself.

"I don't know," I told her honestly. I could feel a number of emotions coming from her, all of them conflicting. There was curiosity, indifference, a touch of excitement, and love. But it wasn't a passionate, lovers love. It was a sweet family kind of love. Her emotions mirrored my own, and I realized that no matter what happened, we would always remain friends at least.

"You know I love you, and you know I always will right?" She asked, feeling even more conflicted. II hesitated,

"Of course, and you know will always love you too." I answered, wondering where she was going with this.

"I love you, but I just don't think… that I am in love with you anymore. I'm pretty sure you feel the same way too." She told me nervously. Maybe she knew me better then she had been letting on.

"Alice, like you said, a part of me will always love you, but I agree, we have grown apart." I felt her emotions ease up and calm down.

She just smiled at me and turned her attention back to Bella.

_What am I to do with my life_

_(You will find it out don't worry)_

_How Am I supposed to know what's right?_

_(You just got to do it your way)_

_I can't help the way I feel_

_But my life has been so overprotected._

Bella really did look amazing up on stage. She finished and climbed of the stage. There was just one more thing bugging me,

"Alice, I know this has been coming for a while but, what brought it on now?" I asked. She gave me one of her knowing smiles and replied,

"Because, we both know who you were really singing to." She smiled again, and then bounced off to congratulate Bella.

**--**

**Just a couple of things, **

**The girl's dresses are on my profile.**

**The songs were **_**Crank Dat**_** by Soulja Boy, **_**As Lovers Go**_** by Dashboard Confessionals, and **_**Overprotected**_** by Britney Spears.**

**I couldn't help it with the Britney lyrics, I heard the song the other day, and it made me think of this story, so I had to include them.**

**Big thank you to everyone who is taking the time to review my story!**

**Last thing, does anyone else think I keep switching tenses, between past and present, cause I feel like I do and it is bugging me a lot.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Twilight

**A/N: Sorry about the delayed update again, I hate year 12!!**

**Chapter 9**

**Jasper POV**

After Bella went to sleep I went for a quick hunt, before sitting down with Alice to talk. We talked a lot about the past, but even more about the future. The relief I felt after knowing everything would work out with Alice astounded me, but I was ecstatic that I could start to think seriously about Bella. Alice was almost as happy as I was about everything and I was beginning to wonder if she knew something we didn't. I didn't dwell on it though, Bella was much more important.

The question of Edward was on my mind for most of the night. Neither Bella nor myself would feel comfortable going behind his back, but at the same time I didn't know if she would be able to end things with him. Her dependence on him was completely over the top. If she could hardly hold herself together when he left, how will she feel if she leaves him?

I had felt her emotions though, there was defiantly love there. Her emotions mirrored my own, but what happens when Edward comes back? Will she still love me, or am I merely a stand in?

I needed someone to talk to, but I couldn't think of anyone other then Bella. I wasn't going to talk to Alice, that was for sure. She may be ok with, but I wasn't going to rub it in her face.

In the end I decided I should just talk to Bella, hoping she would put my fears to rest.

**Bella POV**

After showering, breakfasting and checking in with Edward, Jasper insisted on taking me on a walk in the forest. I could feel his anticipation and I was starting to get concerned.

We walked for about a half hour in silence. I was using the time to make a list of the pros and cons of Edward and Jazz and it appeared he was using the time to gather his thoughts.

We found a small clearing where the sun was able to break through the trees. After sitting on the grass I took a minute to admire Jazz, in all his sparking glory. After we lay down together it suddenly hit me just how similar this was to the first time Edward and I went to our meadow.

We lay there in a comfortable silence for what felt like ages before he finally spoke,

"Alice and I broke up." He said rather indifferently. I was shocked,

"When? Why? Are you all right? Is she all right?" I started to wonder if I had had anything to do with it. Before I could freak out completely Jazzy calmed me down and explained.

He told me about it had been in the process for a while, and they had come to love each other as siblings instead of lovers.

"She will always be one of my closest friends, but we will never be in a romantic relationship again."

I felt a bit better but couldn't help wondering if I still had a part in it. Jazz must have sensed my guilt, cause he went on to explain that she was the one who had finally ended thing.

This made me feel a lot better. Unfortunately it only made my decision between the boys even harder. Nothing could have happened between us while he was with Alice, I just couldn't do that to her. But could I do that to Edward?

I lay back and shut my eyes; this was getting way too complicated.

I waited for Jazz to suggest a solution but he remained silent. Finally I couldn't take it any more. I sat up quickly, only to find my face was inches from his.

"So what now?" I had to ask. He looked at me seriously, and I had to blink a few times to stop myself from getting lost in those beautiful honey-coloured orbs.

"How do you feel about me?" His question put me off guard; I was not expecting such a blunt response. I realised I wasn't able to answer, so I tried to dodge the question.

"I am sure you can tell better then I can" I started with a bit of a laugh. He smiled,

"That's true, I can, but what I really want to know is if you will still feel this way after Ed-The family come back."

His slip up made me realise he had been asking himself exactly what I had been asking myself. The only difference is when he said it, everything was suddenly put into perspective for me, it was almost an epiphany. I took a deep breath, and looked into his eyes,

"I love you now, but I know I will still love you after everyone returns. I can't deny I still have feelings for Edward, ad I probably will for a while, but they are nothing compared to what I feel for you." I took a deep breath, suddenly nervous at what his response would be.

I saw the corners of his mouth start to turn up, and the next ting I knew, his lips were pressed against mine.

There was no lead up, no hesitation, he just…kissed me. It took a while for my brain to realise it should react, but as soon as a started to more my lips in sync with his, I heard a slight purring coming from his chest. He responded immediately by wrapping his cold, muscled arms around me and pulling me closer. I tangled my fingers in his hair, and marvelled at just how right it felt.

I started to feel dizzy, and the trees started to spin around me.

"Breathe Bella." I did as I was instructed and everything started to come back onto focus.

He lay down on the grass, and pulled me on top of him.

"Jazzy?" I asked, "As amazing as that was…" I hesitated, not wanting to upset him.

"You want to sort things out with Edward before anything else happens?" He asked, finishing my sentence. I smiled at this,

"Yeah."

We lay in silence for hours, Jazzy playing with my hair, and myself tracing his chest and arm muscles through his shirt.

Finally as the sun started to get lower in the sky Jazzy suggested we start to head home. As much as I wanted to stay there forever, my stomach took that inopportune time to remind us both I hadn't had lunch.

He pulled me up, and grabbed my hand as we started home.

The walk back was almost as silent, except for once,

"Hey Bella?" Jazz started. "I was just wondering, before you told me how you felt, I felt a flash of annoyance. What was that about?"

I blushed, embarrassed that he had noticed that, It was such a trivial thing.

"Its stupid, I was just a bit annoyed that I had been asking myself that question for days now, and I couldn't figure out the answer. You asked me once, and I knew immediately. I was just such a waste of worrying for days."

He smiled, but didn't answer.

We turned the last corner to see Carlisle's, Edward's and Emmett's cars parked in front of the house.

I dropped Jaspers hand, and almost passed out from the panicking.

"They aren't due for another two days, what are they doing here now?" Jazzy asked more to himself then anything else.

He calmed me down, and gave me a boost of confidence, and we walked in the front door.

We were instantly greeted by a pixie bouncing in to the hall from the living room, halting to a stop just in front of us.

"I had a vision, we have some visitors coming. Don't worry Bella, they are vegetarians too, but they arrive tomorrow, and are curious about us. I though it would be best if we were all here to greet them." Alice rushed to fill us in on the details.

"Bella!" I heard being called from the top of the stairs; I looked up in time to see a bronze coloured blur racing down the hall before me fiancé stopped right in front of me.

He pulled me into a gentle hug, and held me. I felt so conflicted, more then I had this entire time, but I hugged him back. There was no need to upset him just yet, right? At the same time though, I didn't want to lead him on. I decided I would talk to him as soon as Jasper and I had found out about these new vampires.

"Your still hungry Bella, go catch up with everyone, and I will get you something." Jasper smiled at me, although I was pretty sure he wanted to get out the room as much as he wanted to help me.

Edward picked me up, and put me softly onto the couch.

"So before we fill you in, I have to ask, what on earth were you doing in the woods all day, do you know what is out there?" Edward asked me.

I was shocked that he would bring this up in front of his whole family, before I had even had a chance to say hello to them yet.

"I was with Jasper, and I go in to the woods all the time with you all the time." I replied softly embarrassed at this callousness.

"But I am there to protect you then. I want you to promise me you will never go in to the woods with out me aga-"

He was cut of by Rosalie of all people.

"Oh get over it Edward, she is a grown woman, she can do what she likes."

The room fell into a tense silence after that. I gave her a grateful but timid smiled, and was please to see her return it.

The awkwardness was interrupted by Jasper walking into the room. I had to stifle my laughter when I saw he was holding a smoothie. Guess I never explained to him it wasn't really a dinner type meal, but it was sweet all the same. I could tell it was his subtle way of reminding me of our kitchen adventure together.

He gave me the drink and took a seat on my other side.

"So, tell us what Alice saw."

**--**

**A/N: It has been a very long week, so I haven't been able to respond to the reviews I got for the last chapter. I am reading them, and really do appreciate them.**


	11. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: **I don't own twilight.

**A/N: Berrykool point out a really stupid error of mine, so this is the revised version. (Thanks for that)**

**Chapter 10**

**Jasper POV**

I had to hold back a laugh when I heard Rosalie from the kitchen. It was about time someone said something to him, Bella never would. I only hope she can face up to him and end things quickly, I don't know how long I will be able to stand watching him hold her instead of me.

I walked into the lounge room and was almost knocked over by the hostility. I ignored it, and took a seat next to Bella.

"So, tell us what Alice saw." I asked the whole room in general, trying to distract myself from the beauty that was sitting next to me.

"There are three new vampires coming to meet us." Alice answered. "They met the Denali clan, who taught them our diet, and suggested they come to meet us."

"Males, females?" I asked.

"Two males and a female." Came the answer from Carlisle across the room.

"Yeah, but the chick is taken. Her mate is one of the guys. Bad luck, huh?" Emmett interrupted.

"Ow!" He shrieked as Rosalie hit him over the back of the head. "I didn't mean for me." He told her. He turned to me with what he hoped was a sympathetic look,

"Alice told us about you two but don't worry, as soon as we get Eddie laid, we will work on you too."

This time both Edward and Rosalie hit him over the head.

My poor Bella was trying to sink into the couch and her face was bright red. I quickly tried to change the subject for her,

"Is there anything else we should know about these vampires?"

"Nope," Alice answered, "Just be ready to meet them at about 10:30 tomorrow morning."

"Oh Bella," Esme said, "Your welcome to stay for another few days, we weren't expecting to be back so soon, so it has all been arranged with Charlie."

"That would be nice thank you, Charlie has gone on some sort of deep sea fishing trip, so I would have been home alone." She replied

"Well then of course you will stay with us." Esme smiled at Bella, I knew it gave her endless pleasure having someone to take care of.

"Right well Rose and I have to go… unpack" Emmett said, giving the room a huge wink. He threw her over his shoulder and carried her caveman-style up the stairs. I grimaced at her sequels of laughter, thinking of all the feelings I would have to endure. I tried to distract myself by looking around the room, but only noticed that Alice and Edward had similar expressions to mine.

"You must still be hungry dear, I'll go make you a proper dinner" Esme told Bella as she left for the kitchen.

I was sure she was just trying to keep herself busy so she would have to listen to the ruckus upstairs. I had already fed Bella, she wouldn't need anything else.

I quickly changed my thought from my memories of cooking with Bella to concentrating on the different emotions I was feeling. I could risk Edward hearing something before Bella had spoken to him or he would kill me.

"Edward? Can we talk?" I heard Bella ask timidly. I shot her an encouraging smile, and a boost of confidence. She gave me a grateful smile as she got up from the couch.

Suddenly she tripped, and without thinking I leaped up and grabbed her.

I felt a second pair of arms around her waist, and looked up to see Edward giving me a strange look. He quickly brushed it off, and I felt gratefulness coming from him.

"At least I know you have been looking out for her over the last few days." He told me.

I gave him a tight smile, and went back to sit on the couch. I tried not to growl as I saw him grab her hand as they walked out. I concentrated on keeping my thoughts neutral, this time thinking about the new vampires.

I sifted through his emotions as they climbed the stairs. I felt lust and contentment, but was shocked to see that there was no love there. I quickly though back to other times the two of them had been together, but I couldn't remember feeling love from Edward.

From Bella, always. Whenever she was near him it positively radiated off of her, at least it used to. I tried to figure out what this meant exactly, but all I could figure was that she was simply an obsession to him. He didn't love her as much as he though he did.

"What is it love?" I heard from upstairs. "It this about Alice and Jasper? They did take care of you, didn't they?" Edward asked.

I heard her hesitate, so I tried to decrease he nervousness, and increase her confidence, but I realised I couldn't listen to anymore, so I excused myself, and went out to the bench at the bottom of the garden.

I sat there, trying not to think about how I was tearing my family apart when Esme came out to sit with me.

We sat together in silence for a few minutes before either of us said anything.

"I came out to see how you were feeling. Alice said it was mutual, I just wanted to hear your side love." She told me, and I was overwhelmed by her worry and compassion.

"It was mutual, we have both been think about it independently for a while." I looked into her eyes as I said this, I didn't want Alice to be portrayed as the villain in all of this. If anyone was the villain in all of this, it was me.

She put her hand on my knee, and smiled at me.

"I'm glad. I know you sometime feel you are only hear for Alice, but know that you are as much my son as Edward or Emmett."

"Thanks mum" I told her. It didn't seem adequate for how I felt at her statement, but kit was all I could think of.

Would she still feel this way after everyone found out I was the one who had broken up Edward and Bella? She had been so pleased when Edward found someone, it almost made me feel as if I were betraying her as much as I was Edward.

As if she could read my thoughts she added,

"And, you will always be my son, no matter what happens."

I smiled at her,

"Are you sure you don't have Edwards power?" I asked, trying to avoid answering her last comment.

"I may not be able to read mind, but I can read my son's eyes. Feeling the worlds emotions must have a huge effect on you, but I can always see your emotions, and yours alone through your eyes." She told me.

I pulled her into a big hug. I had realised this along time ago, but I didn't think anyone else had. Alice sure hadn't and I was touched that Esme had.

"I should finishing making Bella some dinner, is there anything else you wanted to talk about though?" She asked

I though about talking about Bella, but I didn't feel right discussing it with anyone before Edward and Alice really knew what was going on.

I was still speechless, so I just shook my head. I heard a squeal of tyres, and realised Edward had taken off.

Esme turned to go back to the house, but before she got to far, I called to her,

"Esme? Thanks."

Before I could see her reaction though, Bella coming out of the back door distracted me.

It was clear she had been crying, and I would have been able to feel her guilt from the other side of Forks.

I saw her say a few quiet words to Esme before heading down the garden towards where I was sitting.

Esme gave me a knowing smile before entering the kitchen door, and I started to wonder exactly what Bella had told her.

"Hey" I said softly as she got closer but she didn't answer. She paused a few steps away, so I held out my arms and she quickly crawled into my lap.

As soon as she was there her emotions overtook her, and the tears began to fall. I knew this was one of the few times she wouldn't want me to calm her down, so I let her cry it out.

It took all my will power not to make her happy again, but I knew for some absurd reason she felt she deserved this, and cheering her up would only make her feel worse.

She sat there for over an hour, crying for what she had done. I just held her, stroking her hair and trying to soothe her pain. Her emotions threatened to overtake me a few times, but I knew I couldn't let them. I had to be strong for her.

Finally she began to calm down and she look up at me,

"I am so sorry, I have ruined your shirt." She told me.

"Silly Bella, Alice has bought me plenty of them, don't worry about it."

She smiled at me, but a sudden wave of guilt wiped the smile form her face.

"I am so sorry, I just remembered. I couldn't tell Edward about us. It just felt like rubbing salt in the wound, besides I think he needed to know that I would have ended things anyway."

I gave her a kiss on the cheek, she was so sweet.

"It will be our little secret until you are ready, I promise. I am allowed to kiss you though, right?" I asked, feigning concern.

"He can't see us can he?"

I pointed out the large strip of trees blocking us from the upstairs windows.

"Besides, I heard his Volvo take of down the driveway just before you came outside.

I felt her concern for Edward weaken, so I took the moment, and kissed her as hard and fast as humanly possible.

I had to she her what she meant to me, although I was still careful of her.

This kiss was much more emotional then our first, it were her way of showing I worth all of the pain, and my way of showing that I would do all I can to make sure she was never in pain again.

She pulled back and I though she was going to get up, but instead she snuggled into my chest.

We sat there comfortably for a while until Esme came to the back door.

"Dinner's ready" She called out, and I could feel the happiness radiating from her from the simple sentence. I again appreciated Bella for how fulfilled she made Esme, and I knew that as long as Bella was happy, Esme wouldn't be to upset.

She got off my lap and we walked into the house, and took a seat at the dining table.

"Glad to see you are feeling a bit better dear" She told Bella with that knowing smile again.

She excused herself to go talk to Carlisle and left the two of us to talk.

We talked about superficial stuff, nothing to interesting, but enough to keep her distracted.

She had just finished when Rosalie walked in.

"Jasper, I just want to have a quick chat to Bella, girly stuff. Do you mind?" She asked

Ii was curious, but her emotions gave me no reason to think it wasn't a good idea so I took Bella's plates, and went to do the washing up.

I couldn't help eavesdropping, as they were only in the next room and was very surprised at what I heard.

"Bella." Rosalie said, unsure of where to start, "I'm sorry, I could help overhearing you and Edward before, and I just wanted to say…"

She paused again, this must have been difficult for her.

"I just wanted to say, I am proud of you." She said this very quickly, and it took a moment for Bella to digest.

"Umm…Thanks?" She replied, obviously unsure of what to say.

Rosalie continued as if she hadn't heard her.

"All those things you said, about living your own life, and being tired of being treated like a porcelain doll, they reminded me a lot of my relationship with Royce. I know it would have gotten worse, had we married, and I doubt I would have had the courage to speak up. I am impressed that you did."

The both sat there, not moving for a moment until I heard a scratching of chairs.

I went to the doorway to see what had happened, and saw Rose on the receiving end of a huge hug from Bella.

The sight brought a smile to my face, as they were practically sisters. It was nice to see them bond.

Rose must have sensed me, because she turned and gave me a small smile.

"Thanks Jasper, you can come back now." She turned to Bella, "So where are you going to be sleeping tonight, you can take our bed if you like."

"Considering all the 'unpacking' they have been doing, you might want to take mine and Alice's" I suggested.

Rosalie laughed at this, "Actually that might be a better idea. Alice and I will take you bed shopping tomorrow, after the we meet the new vampires."

"Bed shopping? You don't have to do that, I am only hear for a couple of days, until Charlie gets back, then you probably won't see to much of me." Bella told us.

We both rushed to disagree with this, and eventually we broke her down.

It was bedtime for her, but before she went upstairs Rosalie told her,

"We better still see a lot of you after this, we like you more then Edward anyway."

We all laughed, and Bella went upstairs to get ready for bed.

When it was just us I had to say something.

"This is a pretty big new leaf you have turned, what brought such a change?" I asked.

"I really respect her now, it takes a strong person to do what she did. Besides, I think I was saying more about how I felt about Edward then how I felt about Bella."

She left to go find Emmett, and I headed upstairs to say goodnight to Bella.

**--**

**A/N: Again, I haven't had a chance to reply to any of the review I have gotten, but I read them all, and really appreciate them all, so I would like to give everyone who has reviewed a very big thank you.  
**


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: I was reading over some older chapters, and there were so many typos, sorry about that. I think I need a beta, so if anyone is interested, let me know. **

**Also there was a bit of confusion with a couple of parts of the last chapter, so I will try clear things up here. **

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Twilight.

**Chapter 11**

**Jasper POV**

Edward didn't come back through out the night, poor Esme was distraught. I spent the whole time trying not to think of the fact that Bella was upstairs, asleep in MY bed.

I spent most of the time wandering around the house, distracted. I realised I needed to get out of the house.

"Hey Emmett, do you wanna go for a quick hunt?" I asked

"But we just hunted" He replied, sounding very confused at the idea of hunting twice.

"Yeah, well with Bella around it can't hurt to be careful." I didn't think my weak excuse would fly, but he seemed to accept it.

We took of into the forest, and after about a half hour, we came across a whole head of dear.

After doing our thing, we sat down on an old log and worked to unwind our bodies.

"So…Can you believe about Bella and Edward?" I spluttered at his conversation starter.

"I guess everyone thought they were forever." I replied, unsure of what else to say.

"Forever? Ha, maybe Esme and Carlisle thought that, but Rose and I could see from day one that it wouldn't last. You and Alice though, we thought that was forever."

I couldn't think of a response, so I just leaned back against a moss-covered tree trunk, and studied my surrounds. The forest looked so different by moonlight. I planned to take Bella here one day, I think she would like it.

Emmett must of figured the I wasn't going to reply, because he stretched and settled back as I did. I knew his silence wouldn't last too long though.

"So what do you think about these new vampires?" He asked.

"I don't know what to think, they sound nice enough." I paused, "I sort of get the feeling that Alice knows more about them then she is letting on."

"Really? It is probably something stupid, like one of them has a shopping addiction, but she doesn't want Carlisle to cut off her credit cards" He laughed, and I imagine was remembering the last time he had done that, when internet shopping had been introduced.

"Yeah, she would keep anything dangerous from us."

We sat in silence for a little while longer, the moon was telling me it was past midnight. I could tell there was something else Emmett wanted to say, but I decided I would wait for him to start; I couldn't be bothered coaxing it out of him.

Finally, after what felt like ages he asked,

"So you and Bella have gotten pretty close huh?" I tried not to seem to shocked at his question.

"She's a great girl." I replied, not wanting to give too much away while Edward was still in the dark.

"Don't play coy with me, I am the All-Knowing. I know what is going on with you two." He said with a smirk on his face. I couldn't tell if he was bluffing or not.

"All-Knowing? Channelling Alice's powers now are you?" I asked.

"No, I'm too good for Alice's power! That, and I saw you making out in the back yard this afternoon."

I almost feel of the log when he said this; I was so sure the trees blocked everyone's view.

"You have to promise you won't tell a soul. She doesn't want Edward to find out until she is ready. I mean this Emmett." I told him with as much force as I could muster up. Knowing him he would tell everyone just for the fun of it.

"Chillax bro! I wont tell anyone. You make it sound like I am incapable of keeping secrets."

"You are incapable of keeping secrets!" I told him with a laugh.

"Well, if that is how you feel I might just go spill the beans now." With this he jumped up, and started racing toward the house.

I bolted after him, again unsure if he was bluffing or not. I didn't think he would tell anyone, but with Emmett you can never be sure.

I was a faster runner, but he had a head start, so didn't catch him until we were at the house. He was just about to open the door when I tackled him.

We went flying, and it wasn't until a few seconds after I heard the crunch that I realised we had gone straight through Esme's front door.

"Boys, what have you broken now" I heard Esme calling from the kitchen.

"Nothing" We replied in sync, but I could hear her footsteps coming towards us, so we knew we were in trouble.

We did out best picking up the pieces, trying to make the damage look as minimal as possible before she saw.

"Nothing? You call this nothing? I had this door handcrafted in Italy, and sent over! What were you thinking?" Esme's disapproving glare accompanied, and somehow managed to make even Emmett and I act like naughty five year olds.

"We have people coming over later today, and what sort of savages are they going to think we are, that we don't even have a front door?" The lecture continued.

"It was Jasper!" Emmett interrupted at the very first pause, taking advantage of the opportunity.

"He started it!" I tried to defend myself.

"I don't care! Now I am going to see if we kept the original door that came with the house, and when I get back I expect this foyer to be spotless." With this final word she turned on her heel, and marched out too the garage.

We went as fast as possible without breaking anything else, and managed to disappear before she got back. I she couldn't find the original door I, for one, did not want to be there.

I was going to head up to our bedroom, but I remembered that Bella was sleeping there, so instead I borrowed one of Carlisle's books, and settled down on the couch.

I had barely gotten ten pages in when a very excited Alice walked in, followed, surprisingly enough, by an equally excited Rosalie.

"We know!" Rosalie said, "Alice told me."

I turned to Alice, about to ask how she knew, but luckily I stopped myself before such a stupid question passed my lips.

"You can't tell anyone, Bella is really intent on keeping this a secret. She doesn't want to hurt Edward anymore. You saw how upset she was last time." I told them, I was starting to feel like a broken record.

"Yeah, what was with all the crying? She finally got rid of the ball and chain and she spends the whole afternoon bawling her eyes out."

I tried not to laugh at Rosalie's description of Edward as a ball and chain.

"Maybe she was just crying because now she has to spend all of her time looking at you ugly face." Emmett announced from the doorway.

"Wait, you know too? Why didn't you tell me?" Rosalie asked, not bothering to keep the whining out of her voice.

"Well I only just had it confirmed, why didn't you tell me?" He replied as he walked over to the couch. He unceremoniously threw my legs off the couch, and took their place.

"Hey!" I protested.

"Would you rather I tell mum you had you feet on her sofa?" He asked me with an evil grin.

I grumbled a bit, but didn't protest any more, I was in enough trouble from the door as it is.

"So other then Jasper being ugly, what was Bella crying about?" Emmett asked.

"I am not ugly, I am much sexier then you that's for sure." I retorted.

"Ha, you think you even come close to being se-"

"Enough boys, you have done enough damage to the house tonight, and I don't think my coffee table can take another wrestling match." Esme cut him off from the other room.

"Sorry Mum" We both called out together. The sad thing was we had said it some many times before we said things like, 'sorry' and 'nothing' in perfect unison.

"Look, you guys no Bella, she can't hurt a fly. Yesterday she just felt so much guilt, and compassion, not to mention empathy for Edward that it overtook her. I also think it reminded her a lot of when he left her. She would never want anyone else to feel how she felt then, it's just her compassionate nature." I informed them all.

"That, and the fact she probably felt bad she was screwing his brother." Emmett added.

I couldn't help it. I threw myself at him, but I made sure to steer clear of the coffee table.

"It's not like that." I grunted at as I wrestled him.

"BOYS!" I heard from the doorway. We both froze instantly.

"Sorry mum" We said meekly, as I climbed off him, and we straightened the couch.

Esme's look turned from annoyance to curiosity after she saw nothing was broken.

"Jasper?" She asked, "What exactly did Emmett mean?"

"Well mum…" I hesitated, not sure what to say. "You see, while you were all away Bella and I became quite close."

Her eyebrow rose, and I realised that coupled with Emmett's comment the sounded bad.

"It's not like that" I rushed to assure her, "Bella refuse to cheat on Edward. Its just… We…" I stopped, not sure what else to say.

"They're in love" Rosalie said in a baby voice. I wasn't sure whether she was mocking me, or helping me, but before I could dwell in this though I was almost knocked over, as a pair of arms threw themselves around me.

"Oh Jasper, I am so happy for you, you deserve to be with someone you love. And I am proud of you for doing everything you can not to hurt your brother anymore."

I hugged her back but felt a bit guilty, it was Bella trying not to hurt Edward, not me. I had had my way; we would have been together long ago.

We heard the shower running, and I was surprised to see the sun had already risen, and Bella was up and awake for the day.

"I am going to go put on breakfast for Bella." Esme said.

"Rose, I don't know about you, but I think these new vampires come constitutes as a special occasion." Alice said with an evil grin on her face.

Emmett and I exchanged confused looks. So what if it was a special occasion or not?

It all clicked a second later, with Rosalie's next sentence.

"You do her make up, I'll do the hair? What about clothes?"

"Oh I have the perfect dress in mind. Wait til you see her new wardrobe, it is amazing." Alice replied

"She let you buy her a whole new wardrobe?" Rosalie asked, obviously shocked.

"Nope" Alice said with a laugh, "I'll explain later."

Before Rosalie could ask for more details we all heard the shower be turned off, and the girls raced upstairs without another word.

Emmett and I laughed as we heard her protests, but finally she agreed.

"Wanna get your butt kicked in X-box?" He asked.

We played for an hour or so until Esme came in and told us to have a shower and get ready.

After trying to relax in a hot shower, I got dressed and headed downstairs. I was surprised to see it was already 10:25, but I was even more surprised to see Edward standing in the foyer, talking to Esme.

"Hey, didn't expect to see you so soon. How are you holding up?" I asked, working hard to keep my thoughts neutral.

"I promised Carlisle I would be here to greet them, right?" He said, blatantly ignoring my other question. I felt a stab of guilt, but I repressed it. I reminded myself that he didn't really love her.

We all paused when we heard a car pull into the drive.

"Girls," Esme called, "They're here!"

**--**

**A/N: As usual I would like to thank all my amazing reviews, and if anyone is interested in beta-ing, just pm me.**


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: I have been super busy lately, but I am sure you are all sick of my excuses. Huge thank you to everyone who offered to be Beta, and I am so sorry I didn't have time to speak to you individually. This has been betaed by Take A Break, thank you to her. **

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Twilight

**Bella POV**

I had just gotten out of the shower and was trying to decide what an appropriate outfit for day would be, when two pale blurs came rushing through the door.

The next thing I knew I was sitting in a chair in the bathroom with Rosalie blowdrying my hair, and Alice unpacking several different products onto the sink.

"Is this really necessary?" I pleaded with them.

"Yep"

"Besides, don't you want to look nice for Jasper?" Added Rosalie.

Whatever defence I had planned died in my throat when she said this.

"What…but…huh…how did… Alice!" My mind wasn't really able to form a coherent sentence at that point.

"Everyone knows, well everyone except Edward and Carlisle." Alice informed me.

I calmed slightly at this as I remembered his power I started to freak out all over again. "He will read your minds though! Please god, don't let him fight Jasper." I begged, unsure of what else to do.

Both the girls laughed at this, leaving me rather confused, and slightly frustrated. Didn't they understand how serious the situation was?

"Oh relax. Stop being all huffy, we've lived with Edward for years, ifthere is one thing we learnt, it is how to keep things from him without him even knowing. With these new vampires coming we'll have something to concentrate on, it makes it easier that way." Rose said calmly.

Oh, that made a lot more sense. They would need to have some way to think in privacy around him.

"So now you have stopped hyperventilating over nothing, what is going on with you and Jasper?" Alice asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

I started to answer, but I hesitated. I knew that Alice and Jasper were over, but would she still want to hear about my feelings for her exhusband. I really didn't want to hurt her she is my best friend, so I was trying my best to come up with a nice way to put it.

"Don't worry Bella, the only thing that could possibly upset me is if you don't tell me absolutely everything!" She said, practically reading my thoughts.

"Haven't you already seen everything anyway?" I asked, stalling for time. I didn't know how describe my feelings for Jasper.

"Duh. But I want to hear your thoughts." She said as if I were five years old.

"Besides, I haven't heard all the details yet." Rose chimed in.

"I don't know what to say. I mean nothing much has happened between us, a couple of kisses here and there. That's about it." I said, reflecting over our limited time together.

"But how do you feel about him?" Alice asked impatiently. She sounded like a shrink.

I hesitated again, but she just rolled her eyes at me. So I decided to go with the truth.

"I love him. I am unconditionally and irrevocably in love him."

Both Alice and Rosalie let out a sigh.

"That is so sweet, you two would make a much better couple." Alice said.

"Yeah, you suit him way more then you do Edward, you need someone to help challenge you, not hold you back." Rosalie added.

The rest of the hair and makeup torture passed with much more drama. Apparently Alice didn't consider being stabbed in the eye repeatedly, drama.

Too bad I do.

After Rose and Alice literally forced me into a red summer dress that was way too short, we heard Esme's voice call out,

"Girls, They're here!"

"How do I look?" Both Alice and Rose said at the same time.

"Alice?" Rose asked.

"I expected that from Rose, but why do you care?" I asked her, suddenly very curious.

"Well I was so distracted by you and Jasper, I didn't see them coming." We both just looked at her; even I knew that was a crappy excuse

"I don't have time to explain, but I will tell you both later. Come on." She replied, and grabbed each of our hands, pulling us down the stairs.

I was so distracted by keeping myself from tripping, while being pulled downstairs by Alice that I didn't look up from my feet, until I reached the bottom step.

"Edward" I said, not knowing what else to say.

Luckily our reunion was cut short by Carlisle swinging open the front door.

"Welcome!"

There was chaos, as he tried to get these people through the front door and into the foyer with Edward blocking the way. He was frozen. As he stared at me, I felt a wave of guilt crash over me. How could I have done this to him? Thankfully, Jasper got my emotions under control, and we all ended up in the lounge room for introductions.

Carlisle went around the room introducing each of us, and as he did this I took the chance to look at our guests properly.

The first guy was almost as big as Emmett, but with red hair sticking up at all angles, making him look a lot less intimidating. He actually reminded me of Chuckie from the Rugrats, and I am almost sure he would have had freckles and glasses when he was a human. I chuckled at the thought.

Holding his hand was a gentle looking girl. She had dirty blonde hair that was thrown gracefully back into a ponytail. She had very soft features, and looked to be around my height. Although she was extraordinarily gorgeous, it was clear she didn't bother much with her appearance. I felt a stab of hope that maybe she would become Alice's new hamster for playing dress up.

Finally the last guest was a guy sitting slightly separate from the first two; he looked to be about Jasper's height, with chocolate brown hair that was stylishly gelled into a messyhat made him look a bit dangerous. He was the most attractive of the lot, although nothing compared to Jasper.

I heard my name and quickly tuned back in, to see what they had been talking about, but everyone's attention had moved on to Esme, who was standing next to me. I realised Carlisle was still making introductions. He gave the newcomers a very brief summery of each person's story. I guess he figured they could go into more detail if they wanted to another time.

Then it was the newcomers' turns. The redhead went first. "My name is Michael, and the is my mate Hanna." He paused to smile at her, and it was clear they shared a bond as deep as Carlisle and Esme. "I was changed in1939, in New York. I never knew who my attacker was; they fled before they had the chance to finish what they had started. I was walking along the river Rhine in Germany a few year later when I found Hanna, she had almost drowned in the river." He informed us.

"Do you mind if I ask what made you what made you switch to become human drinkers?" Carlisle asked.

"Not at all", Hanna answered sweetly with a hint of an accent behind her voice, "You see Michael has the power to see people's potential. For example if he were to see a young child, he would be able to tell if it is the next Mozart, or Einstein."

"And every time I tried to feed, I couldn't help but see all thatpotential go to waste. Everyone has the potential for something, and I couldn't be the one to ruin it." Michael finished her sentence.

"After he changed me, I was happy to live his way, and I have only ever had one minor slip up as a newborn." Hanna paused at this, and they both turned to look at the third guy.

"I guess this is my cue. My name is Benjamin, and I was wandering around the streets of England when Hanna had a slight slip." He told the room glancing at her.

"Luckily Michael was able to get me in control before he died, but it was to late to stop the change." Hanna said. Even after all of these years, it was clear she still felt horrible about it. I could see the guilt in her eyes as she spoke about her 'slip'.

"Well it was lovely to meet you all, I am afraid I must be going, but I am sure that we will cross paths again sometime soon." Edward interrupted them and stalked out of the room. I just looked after him like most of the family seemed to.

"Wait, Edward!" Esme called, but the Volvo blurred down the drive before she had a chance to go after him.

"I hope you will excuse my son, he is dealing with a few things at the moment." Carlisle informed the guests.

"So what brings you down to lil' old Forks?" Emmett asked.

"We were up in Denali, and we met the coven up there. They told us about you, and we just wanted to meet you for ourselves, and hopefully get to know you a bit." Benjamin answered.

"Would you like to stay with us?" Esme offered kindly.

"We have hired a little cottage not far away to stay in, but thank you for the offer." Hanna replied.

"If you don't mind, we should probably go for a hunt. Is there anywhere nearby you can recommend, and any endangered species to watch out for?" Michael asked.

"I'll show you!" Alice started to bounce excitedly, I realised this was the first thing she had said since she entered the room. Since when did Alice keep her mouth shut?

"Thank you very much little lady, that would be much appreciated…Alice?" Benjamin said smiling at her. She nodded and beamed back at him.

"Alice would you inform them of the treaty at the same time?" Carlisleasked, throwing a not so subtle look my way.

"Sure, just follow me." She led them out the front door. I paused to look at the front door, it looked different somehow. I brushed off the thought as sleep deprivation and turned back to find everyone but Jasper had left the room.

"Hungry?" He asked, flashing me his lazy smile. It left me speechless for a moment and he chuckled and pulled me in to kitchen. He worked and I sat at the bench. It was then I realised that none of the vampires had turned a head at my being human.

"Jasper?" I asked, "How did Carlisle introduce me?"

"Soontobe member of the family," he answered. I smiled feeling honoured.

"Is that still the case?" I asked nervously, suddenly worried that Jasper wasn't interested in having me around long term.

"Silly Bella, of course it is. Although the wedding deadline has been called off. I think everyone in this family is still set on having you join. Most of all me." He told me this with such sincerity that I didn't doubt it.

"I don't think Edward will be too keen on it though," I replied, trying to imagine living eternity with Edward in the next room. It would be awkward to say the least. "Yeah, but we don't care about what Edward thinks." Rosalie interrupted, as she walked in and sat next to me. "Are you two done with the heart to heart? I wanna chat about Alice." She said, with a glint in her eye.

"Wait for me!" We heard Emmett yell from upstairs. The next second he was in front of us, leaning his elbows on the bench. "So?" He asked, "What's going on with Alice?" I had to stifle a laugh. He sounded just like a gossiping preteen girl.

"Well, she was freaking out about how she looked before they arrived." Rosalie started.

"She did seem to know something else about them that we didn't." Jasper added, sounding very curious.

"I think well are all forgetting the most important thing here." Emmett interrupted, "She spent the whole time in the lounge giving that Ben guy her bedroom eyes."

"They weren't… Oh, my god, they were her bedroom eyes!" Jasper realised.

"You children gossip way too much." Esme said as she walked in.

"You want to know just as much as we do Esme." Rosalie said, "Plus Emmett's the worst one." She smiled at him and Emmett poked his tongue out at her.

"Can't you go do something more productive with your day?" She asked, clearly ignoring Rosalie's statement.

"Nope." Replied Emmett, "It's sunny out."

"Well go watch a movie or something then." She replied.

"Ok, who's up for a movie?" Jasper asked, giving me a meaningful look. I suddenly had a flashback to the last movie I watched with him.

Before I could object though, everyone had agreed, and I was being carried to the couch.


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: I really shouldn't be doing this, but I haven't heard back from my beta yet, and I know you all really want the next chapter, so I am posting an unedited version of it, and I will re-post the edited version when I get it. **

**Please ignore all spelling, grammar etc. mistakes, this was written on very little sleep. **

**Disclaimer: **I don't own twilight.

**Chapter 13**

**Bella POV**

Of course they picked another horror movie. Stupid vampires, they are indestructible, so they have nothing to fear. If I thought the last one was bad, this was shocking.

Although this time I could hide my face in Jaspers chest whenever to got too much, which helped a lot. The only downside to this was that Emmett and Rosalie made stupid comments each time.

Finally, after a lot of calming waves from Jasper, and a lot of comments from Emmett, the stupid movie finished.

We all just lounged around the living room for a while. Jasper was playing with my hair, and Rosalie was playing with Emmett's.

"I'm Bored" Emmett felt the need to inform us of.

We all just ignored him. The rest if us were content not doing much.

"So Jasper, how bad do you reckon your fight with Edward will be?" He asked.

"WHAT?" I yelled, I could not have them fighting over me. What if one of them got hurt?

"Relax darlin'" He said in his gorgeous southern accent, "No one will be fighting."

"Ha, of course they will." Emmett responded. Rosalie hit him over the back of his head, and went back to seeing how his hair looked parted.

"Ow! It's true!" He defended

"Promise me you won't fight him." I asked Jasper.

"Bella, that is the stupidest thing you have ever said." Emmett interrupted.

I paused, what was so stupid about that?

After I asked him, he looked at me like I was five years old.

"Well Bella, you know what a temper Edward has, of course he is going to take it out on Jasper. By making Jasper promise not to fight Edward, you are just ensuring that Edward will have an easy fight. You are practically asking him to promise his own suicide. Unless that is your plan, and you don't really want either of them. Maybe you want them to kill each other so you are free to move onto me! Or may-"

"Shut up Emmett" Rosalie cut him off, and gave him another whack.

"But, Bella I am afraid he does have a point. Edward is going to try to start a fight when he finds out." She added.

I was suddenly filled with fear. It was just like when Edward went after Jacob before the big fight. Only this time, they were brothers. If one hurt the other, it would tear the whole family apart, not just me.

I felt a calming wave come over me and I shot Jasper a quick smile.

"They are right you know, He will fight you. What if he hurts you?" I asked.

"Personally, my money is on Edward getting in a few good blows, but Jasper winning overall." Emmett told us, earning him another hit from Rosalie.

"OW! Do you have to keep hitting me?" He asked her, rubbing the back of his head.

"That depends," She replied, "Do you have to keep saying stupid and insensitive things?"

"But you're the one I am betting with!" He responded, before getting hit again.

"We weren't supposed to tell them that!" She hissed at him, before hitting hi another time.

"What was that one for?" He asked.

"Sorry, force of habit." She said, before turning back to us.

"If it makes you feel any better, I bet on Jasper completely kicking Edwards ass." She told us.

That just made me feel worse though. They were both so sure Jasper would win, and if he did, it would mean not only had I broken his heart, but my new boyfriend, who is also his brother, had beaten him up.

No one should have to deal with all of that. I noticed that Jasper hadn't messed with my emotions, and I was grateful for this. I needed to sort through my thoughts right now.

"But… So if… How…" I started to ask them if anything else would work, but after I realised that I couldn't think of anything else, I shut up.

"Listen here, all of you." Jasper said commandingly, "No one will be fighting." He said this with such authority that I didn't think to doubt him.

"I don't know if you can prevent it Jasper." Rosalie said meekly, as if she knew how much I didn't want to hear that, but at the same time she thought I should know.

"I don't care if I have to run to Australia. No one will be fighting." He repeated.

"Thank you Jasper." We heard come from the doorway. We all spun around to see Esme there, looking apprehensive.

"As much as I hate to admit it though, I think Emmett and Rose are right, I love Edward, but too often he lets his temper get the better of him." She told us, as Carlisle appeared at her side.

"He temper is definitely one of his weaknesses." Carlisle agreed.

"How can I stop him from trying to fight Jazz then?" I asked.

They shared a look between them, and I knew what the answer would be before they said a thing.

"I don't think you can stop it Bella." Esme told me gently.

I stopped, and suddenly felt very stupid for not even considering the idea that they would fight before.

"Lets worry about that later, what would you like for dinner?" Esme asked, in a falsely cheerful voice.

"I don't mind, whatever is easiest." I told her, not feeling hungry at all.

"Ok sweetheart." She said nicely, as if she knew what I was thinking.

"So, how about another movie?" Emmett asked.

"No more horror." Came Jaspers reply, for which I was grateful.

Rosalie got up, and put on some superhero movie, which I wasn't all that interested in.

Carlisle sat down on the loveseat, and after a few minutes Esme gave me a plate of spaghetti and joined him.

My mind was only half on the movie the whole time. I kept think back to Edward and Jasper. I couldn't bear have anything happen to either of them.

Every fight scene that was on the TV just made me imagine the scene again, only with Edward and Jasper.

Eventually the movie ended, and I was able to excuse my self to bed. Even though I knew there was no way I would be able to sleep, I needed some quiet time.

Jasper followed me to his room, and sat on the bed while I went to the bathroom to get changed, and brush my teeth.

He stood up as I walked in, and pulled me into a huge hug.

"Are you ok?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Would you mind laying with me for a little while. The combination of Emmett comments about you fighting Edward, and that stupid horror movie have left me a bit unsettled." I asked him, looking at my shoes. When you spend you life hanging around with vampire, one little movie should not freak you out like this. Not to mention all the real horrors in my life coming from Edward's temper.

"Of course I will." He told me, before puling back the cover, and pulling me into the bed.

We lay there in silence for a little while, with his cold arms around my waist, before I realised I had something I had meant to ask him before Rosalie interrupted us in the kitchen.

"Jazz?" I asked,

"What is it darlin'?" He asked,

"I was just wondering, when Edward was here before, and I came downstairs. What exactly was he feeling?" I asked, hoping I would dread knowing.

"Are you sure you want to know?" He asked.

"Yes." No. I didn't know anymore.

"Well… he felt upset, and hurt, he had a slight hint of annoyance, and he also felt quite possessive."

I ran over the list silently in my head. There was one missing that I had expected.

"No love?" I asked.

"Not really. There was a hint of lust, and a few other things that can feel like love. But there was no pure love." He replied.

"He doesn't love me?" I asked.

"He thinks he does, and he certainly used to. Lately though, you have been more of an obsession to him, more so then a girlfriend." Jasper told me.

I felt conflicted by this. One part of me was relieved by this, if he didn't really love me, then I didn't need to feel so guilty. The other part felt offended. I had loved him, why hadn't he loved me too. I think any girl would take a hit to their ego if they found out their ex-boyfriend didn't love them, but I still felt stupid for think about something as trivial as this.

Slowly I felt waves of lethargy wash over me, and in Jaspers arms, I soon feel into a peaceful sleep. I left behind Edward and his emotions, and his temper, and just slept.


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: Here you go, finally. Big thanks to Take A Break for Betaing,**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Twilight.

**Bella POV**

As Bella slept in my arms I concentrated my energy on giving her a deep, dreamless sleep. With all my family putting stupid ideas in her head I can just imagine the nightmare that would arise.

The ideas weren't so stupid I suppose. I couldn't deny I had been thinking along those lines. I didn't know which would be worse, to leave and run away, or to stay, and fight my own brother.

I knew whatever happened would have to happen soon. The worry, anxiety and anticipation (in Emmet's case) that were coming form the house were tearing my emotions apart.

I tried to just focus on Bella's peaceful emotions and ignore the rest, but I knew the anxiety was still there. I was almost twitching with emotions running through the house.

Bella was so beautiful; she didn't deserve to have to deal with this. I knew her concern for was one of us getting hurt was stifling her; she was such a caring person when it came to those she loved.

Her emotions were some of the purest I have ever known, they were raw emotions, unaltered by impure thoughts and beliefs. She was always concerned for someone else, or hoping for a way to help them.

I lay there for the rest of the night, keeping Bella's sleep peaceful, and contemplating the day ahead.

Alice had told me that Edward would be back today. Come to think of it, I had seen so much of Alice lately. I help back a laugh when I thought of how well things had worked out with her and that new vampire.

It made me wonder, and not for the first either, if we were all just pawns in her divine game.

Of course she means well, but I couldn't help but smirk at the timing in which everything has happened lately.

I hoped I would see her some time this morning so I could ask her the outcome for the day. I shouldn't though. In my experience I have seen too many soldiers lose a fight before they even start, just because they think they know the out come.

Those who think the will win by a landslide become cocky and don't try as hard. Those who are sure they will lose don't bother giving it their all. They are too disheartened, and they almost defiantly will lose.

Strategically speaking, I shouldn't ask Alice anything. I should just go into this, and give it my all. Hoping for the best.

I will get her to talk to Bella though hopefully that would calm her. Hopefully she will find a way to distract Bella until Edward comes, there is no need for her to spend the whole day on edge.

My angel started to stir in my arms. I hoped, for her sake everything would work out today.

**Bella POV**

I woke up with marble cold arms around my waist. I knew instantly they were Jasper's, they seemed linger, and were not quite as smooth as Edwards, probably due to his battle scars.

"Good morning, darlin'. Sleep well?" I heard from over my shoulder. I twisted in his arms until I could see his face.

"Actually, I did. Better then I have in a while." I responded, smiling at him. I am sure not only his presence but also his power had something to do with that.

"Good." He leaned in and gave me a quick peck on the lips. "Sorry darlin', I couldn't help myself. Now why don't you hop in the shower, I should have a chat to Carlisle."

I smiled at him, but I didn't trust myself to speak. Hell, I hardly trusted myself to walk, but I did anyway and managed to stumble into the shower.

I came out to find Alice and Rose sitting on my bed, discussing the latest fall line or something else along those lines that I never quite understood.

"Oh thank god. It took you long enough." Rose said in a rather clipped voice. I could quite tell if she was joking or not.

I didn't have much time to ponder that though, as thanks to the wonders of vampires is was sitting between them on the bed before I could even blink.

"Don't I even have a chance to get dressed first?" I asked irritated and starting to stand.

"NO!" Rosalie screamed, and pulled be back on to the bed. She kept her hands on my wrist as if she feared I would try to escape.

"Relax Bella, we have seen you in a lot less then a towel. We dress you, remember?" Alice said patronizingly. I felt a blush creep up the sides of my face when I though about that.

"What the hell is so important that I am not even allowed to get dressed?" I asked, think that they had better have a bloody good answer for me.

"Alice was about to give us all the goss about her and the newcomers, and she wanted to wait for you so she wouldn't have to repeat herself." Rose said excitedly. It sounded strange coming from her, but I think I was still getting used to her showing any emotion other then boredom or disapproval around me.

It suddenly clicked why she was so impatient with me, all these relationship upheavals were probably the most interesting things to happen to the Cullens in decades, of course she was desperate to hear what was going on.

"Well Michael and Hanna are such nice people. You can tell they really belong together. I think Hanna will be a lot of fun, although her wardrobe could do with some major improvements." She said, trying to slow her speech for my benefit.

A spark of hope flared up in me; hope that Hanna would replace me as Alice's dress up toy. The thought of not having to be dragged shopping along with Alice seemed enough to last me through the day.

Apparently hope was not the emotion that flared up in Rose when Alice said that.

The sound of granite upon granite thundered through the house as Rosalie slapped her sister. No defiantly not hope, annoyance maybe?

"You know those aren't the ones we want to hear about. What's going on with you and Benjamin?" Rose asked impatiently. I was glad she had let go of my wrists; otherwise I don't think there would be much bone left in them.

I made I mental note to never hold back gossip from Rose.

"Oh, you want to know about Benjamin?" Alice asked coyly, and I heard a faint growl come from next to me.

"Well…I don't really know what to tell you. He is a great hunter." She said, looking smug. This time the growl didn't just come from next to me.

Emmett burst through the room, his teeth pulled back over his lips. For once he looked more like a vampire then a Teddy Bear.

"Come on Alice. Stop holding out on us!" He whined. Instantly losing the dangerous edge. Inside he really was just a humongous teddy bear.

"Fine. I should have known you would be listening too Emmett." Alice paused, as if not quite sure where to start while Emmett settled himself on the bed. He gave me a quick once-over, and then wiggled his eyebrows at me.

Suddenly my attire came rushing back to me. Oh my God! I felt the blood rushing to my face as soon as I made that realization.

How embarrassing, to be wearing nothing but a towel in front of Emmett, who would never let me forget incident as long as I lived.

I tried to get up but Rose grabbed my wrists again, so I tried to just sink into the bed, wishing the blanket would just swallow me whole.

I let my wet hair fall into my face, hoping it would hide as much of me as possible. Unfortunately is just sat on my cheeks, limp and stringy, not giving nearly as much protection as it did when it was dry.

I was distracted from my current predicament by Alice, who though now would be a good time to start telling us all the details.

"Ok, well see he was so nice when we werehuntingandthen…" She gushed faster and faster until I couldn't understand a word.

Rosalie cut off her chittering, "I didn't even catch most of that, so slow down sweetheart." She said, much to my gratitude.

"Alright, well I took them all out north, where the other two took of after some deer. He stayed with me, and we just got chatting. He wanted to know all about me, and my power and past and everything. We just kept chatting for what must have been hours. He told me all about himself too." She paused, to take a huge breath. Why did she need to breathe?

"His friends never returned, so we realized they had gone back to the cottage, so he asked so politely if he could stay with me for a few hours, I don't blame him for wanting to give them their alone time."

Emmett took this moment to give me a not-so-subtle elbow in the ribs. My face flamed up again, and my gratitude went to Rose once more for another hit on the back of his head.

"Anyway, I took him for a tour of Forks in my Turbo, you should have seen how much he loved my car, he even managed to convince me to let him drive it. He's pretty good too. I was surprised, most Nomads could care less about cars, but he says it was a passion in his human life that transferred over. He was going to study mechanical engineering before he was changed."

She was again interrupted by Emmett. "That's all very nice. But we want the juicy stuff. Did you two have any of your own 'alone time'?" He made air quotations when he said 'alone time', then felt the need to give me another not-so-subtle elbow in the ribs. He was worse than a human teenage girl.

This time Alice and Rose hit him, and I tried to sink even lower into to the bed.

"I am a lady, thank you very much. Nothing happened, although he did ask me on a date tomorrow night." Alice replied indignantly.

"Where is he taking you? What are you going to wear? That doesn't give us much time to prepare!" Rose jumped up, and started pacing the room.

"I know! That's what I said, but he insisted on tomorrow. He tried to surprise me with where we were going, but it didn't work. Don't tell him I know though, I want to act surprised." She replied, as she jumped up and started pacing too.

I couldn't help but laugh at the poor guy who tried to surprise Alice.

"Umm, can I get dressed now?" I asked meekly, hoping they would finally let me.

"Yeah sure." Rose said casually, not even really listening

I grabbed the fist piece of clothing I could find out of my wardrobe and bolted for the bathroom.

I ran straight into a wall and started to fall backward from impact.

Suddenly the wall reached out and caught me. It was then I looked up to see it wasn't just any wall. It was my Jasper.

He stared at me, with one eyebrow raised. It was then I remembered my outfit, or lack there of.

The ever-present blush spread once more against my face, and I broke his gaze to stare at the floor. At this rate I would be permanently red.

"Not that I am complaining, of course, but is there a reason you are still running around in a towel. You got out of the shower ages ago." He asked, trying to sound innocent. I could practically hear his smirk.

"Rose and Alice were in my room, and Alice wouldn't tell rose about Benjamin unless I was there too, and Rose wouldn't let me get dressed cause she really wanted to hear the gossip. Then Emmett came in to listen, and I didn't want to get changed in front of him, so I thought I would get changed in the bathroom, but then I ran into you and-" I stopped when I realized that I was rambling.

I looked up at him for a second, and sure enough he was smirking at me. He looked up at a clock, and then back to me, "As much as I would love to continue this, and believe me, I would, you have to go get dressed. Edward will be here in about five minutes, and I think we should tell him about us."

The smirk vanished off his face as he said this.

Shit. Edward. Shit.

"It's ok, just go and get dressed, I'll wait out here for you, then we will go downstairs, and deal with this together." I heard his gentle voice whisper in my ear in an attempt to calm the nerves I was suddenly feeling.

I nodded mutely. At that point I was unable to form a coherent sentence, so I just stumbled toward the bathroom, pulling on the clothes I had grabbed.

I was to stunned to even noticed what I was wearing.

I knew it would have to happen sometime, but I had still never pictured myself telling Edward I was in love with his brother.

Once downstairs Jasper and I sat on the sofa, and the rest of our family gathered around. Jasper said he had asked them to be there for support, but if I wanted privacy, then they were happy to leave. At this point I didn't care of the entire population of Forks was in their living room.

The more I though about it, the more I was pleased there would be vampires there to help break up the fight.

Time seemed to speed up, and all of a sudden I heard the front door open.

"Edward, could you come in here for a second please?" Jasper called.

He walked into the room at human pace, and didn't even flinch when he saw me sitting there. I opened my mouth, but I just couldn't bring myself to form the words. The words that would result in my leaving.

Thankfully Jasper took this as his cue. "Edward mate, Bella and I, well we have fallen in love." Just like him, blunt and to the point. "We are both so sorry to hurt you, but we just can't help the way we feel. I'm sure you can see how strong our love is, just by looking into my mind."

He stood up at the last part, preparing him self to fight, but I think he also tried to look as if he were surrendering.

I flinched back into the couch, and I felt someone move behind me, ready to stop me from interfering.

Edward move slightly, here it is I though. The first punch. I threw in a quick prayer to let them both come out of this ok.

Edward took a step towards Jasper, and I braced myself for the impact. What I wasn't braced for was what happened.

"No," he growled out, "Bella can't love you. I won't let her."


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N: I felt really bad about the delayed updates, so I tried to get this out as soon as possible. Thank you, Take a Break for betaing.**

**Chapter 15**

**Bella POV**

Edward took a step towards Jasper, and I braced myself for the impact. What I wasn't braced for was what happened.

"No," he growled out, "Bella can't love you. I won't let her."

What? My mind couldn't grasp that. Looking around I noticed everyone seemed to be just as stunned as I was.

Carlisle recovered first,

"Edward, son, I am afraid this is Bella's decision."

"Get over it Edward, it's not up to you." Rosalie added spitefully. This caused him to send a growl in her direction, and Carlisle to send her a warning look.

"Since when do you take her side anyway Rosalie? I come back and the whole family has turned on me." He snarled in her direction, crouching slightly.

"Since she earned my respect, something you failed to do in like eighty years." She growled back, standing to face him. It was still odd to have Rosalie defending me this way.

"Oh yeah, and what has she done lately that was so good, you suddenly transformed?" He asked tauntingly.

Somewhere in the back of my mind it registered that they were talking about me as of I weren't there. This should have annoyed me, but I was actually grateful. At least I wasn't the centre of attention.

Maybe Edward will forget about me completely, and this whole thing can be dealt with without me being pulled into the centre if attention.

"What do you think?" Rose asked with a smile in her face, she had pulled out of her defensive pose and crossed her arms, "She dumped you." She stated simply. I knew that Rose had never been the biggest fan of Edward, but was our separation really the cause of her new attitude towards me.

Edward growled and crouched even lower, like a cat waiting to pounce.

"Rose, DUCK!" I heard Alice scream.

Something happened that was way to fast for my eyes to register, but after a thunderous crash, Rose was standing to one side looking smug, and it looked like both Emmett and Jasper had jumped in front of Edward before he could get her.

Edward turned, and saw Jasper on his left, it was as if it was the first time he had even noticed Jasper in the room.

"YOU!"

His arm flew out as a blur, and caught Jasper on the cheek, sending him flying through the room.

I screamed but no one seemed to notice. Tears were running down my face, and a briefly registered cold arms pulling me back, when I tried to run to Jasper. He wasn't getting up. Vampires can't be knocked out, right?

I screamed again, and the person holding me winced, but no one else did.

Why wasn't he getting up?

**Jasper POV**

FUCK! That fucking hurt!

I felt myself going into strategy mode, and all my military training started to take over my mind. Fighting was an instinct to me, and I had good instincts.

I kept my mind focused on how much pain I was in, but in the background I was planning.

Edward would come here to either check on me, or more likely, use the advantage to throw another punch.

That's when I'll get him. All he can here from my mind is curse words, and bitching about my cheek. Really I was over it.

He must be pretty cocky if he believes he can inflict that much pain on a vampire.

I felt the air shift on my left, and knew he was coming.

In a spilt second I threw my leg up, and caught him in the stomach.

The vibrations went through the house, and my thoughts went to Esme, how appalled she must be at having to clean up the damage done to the house. For a second, before returning to the fight at hand.

Now is not the time to be distracted.

He recovered quickly, and tried to throw another punch at my face. It was too predictable, and I dodged it easily.

Decided to take a defensive position. I would dodge his attacks, and when he had had enough, I would come in at full strength.

Luckily for me he mind was clouded with emotion, because he seemed to forget everything I ever taught him. He was fighting like a newborn, I had to use all my training to not get just as mixed up by his emotions. I needed to keep my mind clear.

Come on Edward, come and get me! I thought, while doing my best to encourage his anger. At the moment it was my best ally, so I sent him as much from me as I could.

I filled my mind with images of Bella, kissing her, catching her in nothing but a towel, us watching the movie. I had to force myself not to get caught up in the lust and love that these images evoked.

It worked, as he growled, and threw himself at me.

He hit me in the midsection like a rugby tackle, and sent us both flying across the room.

We landed a soon shattered piece of furniture, but I didn't have time to register what it was before Edward tried another punch.

I shifted to the left, and he hit the floor. I used the split second, that he was unbalanced to flip him over.

I grabbed his hands, and held them above his head, so he couldn't keep punching.

His legs thrashed around, but I had my knee holding down his midsection, so he couldn't do too much damage.

I was about to punch him when Carlisle stepped in.

"That's enough, boys, you both need to calm down. Nothing can be achieved by you fighting except upsetting Bella and destroying Esme's house."

As he said this I turned to look at Bella, she looked terrible. Esme was holding her back, she had tears running down her face, and she had such a look of sadness and guilt that I immediately let Edward go, and ran to her.

I pulled her out of Esme's arms, and did my best to calm her down, the emotions she was feeling were raging and it was hard to control my own as I held her.

For a minute, there was no one else there. Just my Bella, who fit perfectly in my arms.

I heard a growl behind me, and remembered that Edward was still there.

I sent a wave of calm through the room, and Carlisle sent me a grateful smile.

"We need to sit down as a family and discuss this situation like adults."

"I don't know if discussing this will help Carlisle." Rosalie said, and I sent her an extra wave of calm.

She glared at me, but she couldn't get too worked up, thank God. Times like this I loved that I could affect people's emotions.

"Well it can't hurt to try Rosalie, so lets all head into the dining room." Carlisle led the way, and took his place at the head of the table.

I sat on one side of him, and Edward on the other. Bella sat next to me, and the rest fell into place around the table.

I tried not to smile when I noticed no-one sat next to Edward, but he heard my thoughts and growled at me anyway.

"That is enough." Carlisle declared.

We all shut up instantly.

"Now, Edward, I understand that this is hard for you, but you need to understand that it is Bella's choice how she lives her life." Sorry there Eddie, I thought knowing he would be listening to me.

He nodded meekly; I should have gotten Carlisle to do the talking from the start. The level of respect Edward has for him is astonishing sometimes.

"At the same time, both you and Jasper are equally a part of this family, and it hurts us to see you fight."

This time we were both ashamed. I knew it must have torn Esme apart to watch that, and I truly felt bad that I put my family through this. Esme is such a kind, loving person, no-one should ever hurt her. Bella looked at me curiously feeling my shame. I smiled at her and took her hand giving it a squeeze.

"I think it might be best if I went and stayed with the Denali clan for a little while." Edward said, still looking down.

"Ok son, if that is what you think is best." Carlisle said.

Esme came up behind him, and put her hands on her shoulders.

"Remember, you're part of this family, and we love you. You will always be welcome here." She whispered in his ear, "Don't be gone for too long."

He nodded, and after a quick trip upstairs he took off in his Volvo without another word.

I pulled Bella into my lap, ecstatic that this meant that we could finally be together freely.

I noticed that everyone else had not-so-subtly left the room. Bella twisted in my lap, so she was facing me sitting in a position she would not, had there still been any of the family still present.

"Are you ok?" She asked, tracing my cheek where Edward had punched me.

"Better then ok darlin', you are now officially mine." I know it's possessive but I had wanted to mark her as mine.

She smiled as I said this; so I leaned down to kiss her.

It was as if it was our first kiss all over again.

All the worry, tension and anxiety that had been felt by both of us over the last few days evaporated with this kiss, and we were left with nothing but pure unadulterated love.


End file.
